The Sage of Konoha
by The Tailed Titan 72
Summary: Naruto finds a crystal that, upon contact, gives Naruto the abilities of the Rikudo Sennin, the Sage of the Six Paths. Follow the next Sage as he tries to bring peace to the Shinobi World. Very Strong/Smart Naruto with Rinnegan/Sharingan combination. Naru/Saku with other pairings. There will be Lemons.
1. The Sage's Resurrection

Ok so recently I stumbled across a Fanfic with Naruto practically being the Rikudo Sannin, the Sage of the Six Paths, and I thought that it was pretty awesome to see everyone's favorite blonde being so powerful. So I haveve decided to carve out my own piece of that pie. I will be writing The Shinobi of the Undead along side this story so if one gets multiple updates while the other doesn't then I am very sorry. I will try to write both of these stories at the same pace.

Now without further ado, I welcome you to:

**The Sage of Konoha**

* * *

It was a peaceful morning in Konohagakure as the people carried on their daily lives. Neighbors greeted each other with a wave and a smile and strangers acknowledged one and other with a nod of their head. People milled about in the crowded supermarket as people were buying food, browsing the stalls, or even just talking with friends.

"Get back here!"

The cry of the ANBU was a regular occurrence and only a few people lifted their heads to watch a streak of orange flash overhead.

"Oh great its at it again."

"When will it just disappear?"

"I hope they beat it to a pulp when they catch it!"

The grumbles were over shadowed by the orange blur's boisterous laughter. If he didn't already have a bad reputation then many people would have probably said that the boy had a heart warming laugh with a smile to match. However he was always playing pranks.

Today he had done the impressive feat of sneaking into the ANBU locker room and rigged up several paint filled gas release pellets. Any ANBU present were now painted orange as they chased the delinquent down. The ANBU never guessed to check the fence as they went speeding by. Part of the fence dropped away to reveal a laughing blonde as he pointed at the direction the ANBU just ran. His senses began to warn him his death was approaching so he took off towards the Forest of Death, the best place for him to hide. He ignored Iruka's cries and angry shouts behind him as he ran through the forest as fast as possible.

He continued laughing until part of the ground opened up into a small tunnel and he slid several hundred feet before being dumped unceremoniously on the ground.

"Ow."

The blonde began to take in his surroundings as his survival instincts took over. A sudden burst of light illuminated the room which caused Naruto's eyes to focus on the crystal with the swirling colors. Naruto, being naturally curious, got up and brushed himself off before approached the strange crystal. He felt an indescribable feeling of familiarity at the pulling sensation the crystal gave off. The next thing he knew, Naruto had lifted his hand which he just brought to rest on the crystal. A massive flash of light filled the room as Naruto felt himself leave that dimension.

"Where am I?"

"You are in a place that is beyond human comprehension."

"Who are you?"

"I am most commonly referred to by you shinobi as the Sage of the Six Paths."

"Wow...why am I here?"

"You seem to have found my crystal. I'm glad it was you Naruto Uzumaki. I have been watching you for the longest time and I feel that you deserve my gift."

"Gift?"

"My powers. Every single last bit of my powers and memory now goes to you. It is up to you to achieve what I have failed."

"And that is?"

"Peace. Achieve peace and you will be greater than I can ever hope to be. Good luck Naruto."

The beam of sheer power tore through the ground and shot into the sky. Many people were frightened by the sudden appearance of such a strange phenomenon.

"It was probably the demon brat!"

The veneral mumers of agreement ended the discussion swiftly. Now if only they knew how right they were.

Naruto felt felt his entire body being restructured and improved. His small muscles were now developed and he put on some extra height. He looked lean, strong, and one might dare to say predatory after his baby fat disappeared. He went into the hole as a young boy but now he looked much more like a young man. Once Naruto felt like he was no longer burning alive he turned his attention to the box next to the pedestal where the crystal once was. He opened the box and found the Sage's robe inside. The he threw the material on and found that it seemed to adjust to his size. The robe had white sleeves and shoulders while the rest was grey. A sash like red belt ran around his waist. Naruto noticed that the robe perfectly revealed the six new magatamas that were burnt into his chest much like how the Sage's necklace appeared. The magatamas were all the same color. Unlike the Sage's Sharingan red color they were a deep blue color, much like his eyes. The staff was the next thing Naruto noticed. Like the clothes, once he grabbed it the staff shrunk to the appropriate size for him. He quickly placed the staff on his back. He then started to feel a slight tingling in his eyes. At first the blonde didn't think much about it but now he was experiencing some of the most incredibly unbearable pain he had ever felt. The poor Genin collapsed onto his knees as he frantically clutched his head, hoping that the pain would stop. The pain finally subsided and Naruto was able to stumble to his feet. He quickly grabbed the box with the robes in it and climbed out of the hole. He was happy that the staff didn't clank around unless he wanted it to. He heard the sounds of the ANBU on their way and he quickly disappeared into the forest as he made his way home.

* * *

Later that night Naruto gazed into the mirror in complete shock and fascination at what he saw. His pupil seemed to have shot out its outer layers as a ripple pattern now was present in his blue eyes along with three tomoe on the first ripple. He could feel ungodly amounts of power coursing through his body as he thought about the Sage's words.

"All of your abilities huh." He muttered aloud to no one in particular. He was also having clear flashbacks as parts of the Sage's life played through Naruto's mind as it tried to seperate the memories. He was currently watching the birth of the Bijuu. At the end of their creation, Naruto couldn't help but shed a tear at what happened to them. Not long after their creation they were forced to watch their father figure succumb to old age. Naruto didn't know why but he felt a strange attraction to the Nine Tails, Kurama. It was like he had known the fox all of his life.

Naruto was wrenched from his thoughts as he let out a loud yawn. He dragged his tired ass to bed so he could sleep on all of the information he had gathered that day.

* * *

Morning. God how Naruto hated morning. He was surprised to find his eyes flutter open at the first glimpse of sunlight. At 4 in the morning.

"No I'm going back to bed! If only I had shutters. God do I wish I had shutters." Naruto never even noticed his chakra flare up and could only sigh contently when his brand new...shutters...had...closed. when did he get shutters? He suddenly had another one of the Sage's memories pop up in his mind as he seen the Sage use a strange technique. The name suddenly flared to life in Naruto's head.

'The Creation of All Things.'

Wow. Naruto had just used the technique that created the Bijuu to create some window shutters to keep the sun out of his eyes. He rolled his eyes at his own laziness and got up. He was about to grab his orange jumpsuit when his eyes suddenly fell on the closed box. He opened it once again and removed the robe only to have a scroll fall out. Gently setting the robes aside, Naruto quickly bent down to retrieve the scroll that fell on the ground. He felt that same sense of familiarity with the scroll as he opened the paper. He instinctively put his hand on the kanji and pumped some chakra into it. A poof of smoke erupted from the scroll and there was now a katana on the scroll. The katana's sheath was purple with a ring of three tomoe at the top, three in the middle, and three on the bottom. The handle of the blade was wrapped in golden wrappings. Upon grabbing the hilt he found the wrappings were as soft and smooth as silk. He drew the blade and found he instantly knew how to use it. It was strange already knowing how to use things he was just discovering. The blade had several words carved into the blade.

"This Blade shall only be wielded by the Savior of the Shinobi World."

Naruto just read the words over and over to himself as he walked to his bathroom now dressed in the Sage's robes. He admired the design on the back of the robes. The Rinnegan was positioned over the center column of tomoe while the tomoe themselves were arranged in a three by three pattern.

'Speaking of tomoe...'

Naruto desperately searched the Sage's memories for an explanation of why he had the Sharingan combined with the Rinnegan. As he thought about it the answer became suddenly clear to him. The Rinnegan had been altered by some force within Naruto's own body that must of somehow added a form of Ten Tail's chakra to it so he had the start of the Jyuubi's eye. Naruto, satisfied with that answer, focused on trying to make his eyes go back to normal with no such luck. Then a sudden mischievous grin spread across his face. They had all heard the stories about the God of Shinobi but those stories never told what the god looked like. In fact, no one except scholars of the subject could even guess at what he may have looked like. Naruto chuckled at his good fortune.

'Let everyone see it! I'm about to blow their fucking minds anyways!' With his answer being set in stone Naruto went back and sealed both the sword and the staff into the scroll which he then concealed inside one of the robe's secret interior storage seals.

'God do I love this robe!'

* * *

Naruto couldn't get enough of the confused looks the villagers all gave each other as Naruto proudly flaunted his new attire along with his new eyes. Only a few people noticed the eyes as the rest were focused on the clothing. Many people's eyes lingered on the white cape-like cloak segment that held the intricate design on his back. Another great deal of people found their eyes lingering on the magatama markings on his chest. When he finally reached the Academy he walked into the classroom and was surprised to find he was the first one there. He slowly took his seat in the back and began to lean back in his chair while waiting for the others to arrive. After 15 minutes of waiting they all began to trickle in. Their reactions were priceless.

Naruto sat leaning in his seat as everyone who came into the classroom just stopped to gawk at the Dobe who was actually early. Like many of the villagers most of his classmate's eyes did a quick sweep of his new look before many eyes settled on the pattern on his chest. He casually stood up and whistled as he walked up to the board, grabbed an eraser, positioned it in the barely open door, and walked back to his seat like nothing happened. He could feel their gazes on his back but he didn't care as he sat down and tilted his chair again.

"Well are you guys done staring at me?" The blonde smirked as they all snapped out of their trances and toom their seats. He still did notice the glances he received from multiple girls in the class including the pink haired angel that sat next to him.

Sakura continued to gawk at Naruto's new outfit and the body he had kept hidden all of this time.

'He's actually HOT!'

Sakura knew the thought was shared by almost every girl in the class as they all stared at Naruto, some with stars in their eyes. Iruka walked into the classroom only to have an eraser drop on his head.

"Ok who-" his voice caught in his throat as he seen the hand of the one and only Naruto Uzumaki go up. After several minutes of shocked silence Iruka cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"N-Naruto it's good to see you on time. Ok class, today we're going to start your final exams. We will do writing, physical, and finally jutsu in that order."

Naruto blew through the writing portion of the test. It was really easy when you had the memories of the man that created the shinobi way at your disposal. Next was shuriken and kunai throwing. Naruto crushed Sasuke's score earning yet another glance of disbelief from everyone which just caused him to smirk even more. Finally was the part Naruto had been waiting for: sparring.

"Any volunteers?" Both Sasuke and Naruto stepped forward like usual. The fangirls started to cheer on Sasuke.

"Kick his butt Sasuke!"

"Yeah! Wipe the floor with th Dobe!"

Naruto noticed Sakura stood by Hinata instead of with the usual group of fangirls and actually gave Naruto a supporting smile.

'Hmm maybe she finally wants to get to know me!'

"Begin!"

Sasuke shot forward with the intent of putting everything into one punch to end it quickly. His hand shot forward and made contact...with Naruto's open palm. He didn't even pay attention as he spaced out while dodging of Sasuke's attacks. The Uchiha was starting to become angry and his attacks got more erratic. Finally the Uchiha snapped. After so many failed attempts he resorted to his one main jutsu.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

Naruto didn't seem to care about the fiery ball of death hurtling his way. Finally he sighed and looked at the fireball with a look of absolute boredom.

"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu."

The bored tone in which he said it caused the Uchiha to grit his teeth. The water dragon seemed to materialize out of the air. Its sheer size made Sasuke's fireball look like a pea. The dragon roared before it rushed towards the stuned Uchiha. The boy closed his eyes in preparation for the strike when he heard water beginning to splash to the ground. He heard a collective gasp when a cold metallic object was held to his throat. He opened his eyes to find himself staring down the blade of a very impressive katana.

"Do you yield?"

Without waiting for an answer the blonde sheathed the blade and it disappeared in his robes again as he turned around. The Uchiha, seeing an opening, charged at the blonde student with a kunai. Naruto smiled as Sasuke fell fir it. Hook, line, and sinker. At the last moment the blonde backfilpped over the charging Uchiha and grabbed the black haired boy by the shoulders as he twisted him around. Once they were face to face Naruto cocked a fist back and let it fly. He was rewarded by the satisfying smashing sound as Sasuke was sent through a tree.

The silence was incredible as he walked off the sparing field to stand next to Sakura and Hinata. Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"That was awesome Naruto! Sasuke-kun! I have never seen that level of fighting from Academy students! You two are strong!" The sole clap of Sakura's was joined by a timid Hinata. The two clapping started a chain reaction of clapping. No one ever noticed how Naruto got to be standing by Sasuke but his next action shocked everyone including Iruka. Naruto stood above the beaten Uchiha with his hand extended. To be more specific, his pointer and middle fingers were extended in the friendship sign. Sasuke smirked and took Naruto's offer before being assisted to his feet by the blonde. They gave each other a small smile that only they noticed before they seperated.

The jutsu portion was also easy as Naruto created enough shadow clones to fill the entire testing room.

Later when class rank was announced, Naruto was still declared as Dead Last due to his slacking during the year. But he didn't care. He passed and that was all that mattered.

* * *

Team 7 is Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

AN: And so begins Naruto's journey as the next Sage of the Six Paths. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Next chapter may be the mission to the Wave or the Chunnin Exams or maybe even a massive time skip if that is what you want to have happen. Just leave me any suggestions or ideas in a review or PM. It all depends on what you guys want. Please Read, drop a Review, and Enjoy the story!


	2. Mission to the Wave

**Ok I have two simple words for the situation I find myself in: Holy. Shit. I say that in a good way too. Never in my entire life would I have imagined that the first chapter of a new story would draw in 20+ favorites and follows! And let us not forget about all of the reviewers that were kind enough to leave a response. Thank you all so very much!**

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: Oh just remember that the Jyuubi's eye held nine tomoe. You must also remember that Naruto doesn't always fully know what he's doing. Occasionally the memories from the Sage will surface and cause something new to happen then it is up to Naruto to figure out and recreate what happened. Hell he may not even fully remember what he did! You must also remember that, yes Naruto is overpowered but you must always remember that no matter how good you are, there is always someone or something just as good if not better.**

**Drums4life: *facepalm* Thanks for pointing that out. I will fix it as soon as possible. Also you're not nitpicking. I need someone to read over to proofread the chapters but since I wirte without a schedule it makes it kind of hard to use a beta. Please feel free to point out any other spelling errors.**

**Nanai: I'm happy to see you are so excited about this story! Also don't worry there will be PLENTY of the NaruSaku moments. PLENTY.**

**joe: I see you have this story all planned out lol. As much as everyone loves to see their favorite blonde as an overpowered powerhouse, that is a little too overpowered.**

**Enlace: Yes, yes indeed. Lol**

**kidloco: Glad to hear!**

**Mr. Motivator: Well you certainly hold up to your name!**

**McAwzome...wait there was no review from McAwzome?! Oh shit they must've gotten him!**

* * *

The night was clear and the stars were out. Naruto was laying down on the branch he occupied and stared into the millions of shiny dots. He had taken up this habit right after they began the journey to the Wave. Naruto used this time to relax and sort out the massive jumble of memories that ran rampant through his mind. He stared up at the moon when a image flashed to the front of his mind. He seen a great battle being fought as the Sage confronted a massive beast with one eye. Then, just as fast as it appeared, the image was gone. Naruto sighed as the memory disappeared. After seeing that flash of an image he wanted to know more about what happened. He heard a sound down by the fire. He saw Sakura through one of his clone's eyes. He noticed her eyes were turned in the direction of the real one as she looked at his prone body. He noticed her subtle sigh before she returned her gaze to Sasuke and half-heartedly tried to start a conversation.

"Hn." The usual response took all of the wind out of Sakura's sails as she began to trace a pattern in the dirt while staring into the flames. He returned his gaze back to the sky while still listening for any sounds of an approaching enemy. The mission had shot up from a C-rank mission all the way to an A-rank with the appearance of the Demon Brothers. The blonde sighed as he thought back to that encounter.

**-Flashback Begins-**

Naruto still felt the waves excitement still coursing through his body. Although he didn't show it, the blonde was doing mental frontflips, backflips, hell even sideflips at the feeling of finally leaving Konoha for the first time. His demeanour suddenly changed to being completely alert on the inside while he displayed complete ignorance on the outside as he passed the "puddle". He noticed Kakashi's minute nod as he continued to read his book. At his signal, Naruto continued acting as though he didn't notice the two figures rise from the puddle. He played his part perfectly as he watched on in "shock" as the chain tore Kakashi to pieces. Sakura froze up and Sasuke took a step back as the two figures turned to the three genin. Naruto surprised everyone by smirking and stepping forward while he cracked his stiff neck.

"Finally! Something to do around here!" The blonde haired genin nearly bounced up and down in excitement. "Sakura please protect Tazuna-san. Sasuke protect Sakura." The Uchiha began to step forward to help Naruto fight when he felt an invisible force stop him. "You WILL listen to me and you WILL protect Sakura." The Uchiha didn't know why but he felt himself walk back to stand beside Sakura.

"Now then, shall we begin?" The Uzumaki smirked when the two men charged. Naruto yawned as the chain began to wrap around the bored genin. Sakura and Sasuke watched with a sort of sick fascination as Naruto smirked whe the chain began to get pulled together with the intention of slicing him apart.

"Naruto!"

"Shinra Tensei."

The invisible shockwave ripped the chain apart link by link and threw the two missin-nin into two trees. The forest shook as several trees collapsed due to missing their bases now. Naruto knew the fight wasn't over and had his katana in his hands before anyone knew he had moved. One of the two came from his left and Naruto dodged the pathetically slow attempt at a slash before he rammed the hilt of his blade into the ninja's stomach hard enough to make the man cough blood. Naruto planted his hand on the back of the doubled over ninja and leapt into the air, using the man as a balance and pivot point. Naruto bent his planted arm before h attempted to spring into the air using the man.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The wave forced the man into the ground as it propelled Naruto into the air. He brought his blade so the point lined up with the fallen man's chest and let gravity do the rest. From the speed he was falling it felt like butter as his blade slid effortlessly through the man. Without hesitation Naruto lifted his hand and pointed it at the dead man's comrade. He lifted his sword so it pointed right at the man before he spoke.

"Bansho Ten'in."

An invisible force pulled the man off of his feet and right towards his impending doom. The last emotion to cross the man's eyes was one that almost looked like he was begging for his life. Naruto ignored the look and pulled the man straight onto the blade. He dumped the corpse onto the ground and looked at it with disgust and turned to his comrades to speak.

"The only thing worse than choosing a mission over the lives of your friends is to abandon your village altogether. To kill your former friends for money and nothing more. Missing-nin are some of the lowest scum on this earth." He then turned to face the forest and spoke once more. "Ok Kakashi you can come on out."

**-End Flashback-**

Naruto was glad he had killed those two ex-Mist ninja but something felt wrong. He was glad yet he felt disgusted at himself and his actions. He needed to sort through the feelings and to do that required time. So he took the first post for the night. He noticed that Sasuke had fallen asleep during his little daydream and Sakura kept glancing at Naruto then back to Sasuke and then back again. She was biting her lower lip as if she was in deep thought. He thought she looked indecisive about something but he just let it go. It didn't matter. He still had his own problems to sort through. Sighing, he laid his head back down and slipped into sleep. If anything entered or even got near the camp, his Kage Bunshin would hold them off while he got to the area. Sadly, his Kage Bunshin were unable to hold the special doujutsu abilities that he had except for the linked vision. No matter what his clones seen he could see to.

Satisfied with his security grid, the blonde drifted off into a nice, deep sleep.

* * *

'Danger!'

The blonde genin snapped his head up to see a very angry Sakura approaching him.

"How many times do I have to tell this baka to WAKE UP!" She cocked her rage fueled fist back but halted the punch when his rippled blue eyes met her beautiful emerald eyes. She felt her anger just fall away under his sleepy gaze. She couldn't meet his eyes so instead her eyes locked onto his whiskers. Eventually she had traced and memorized each one. With her focus no longer being held she looked back into his eyes just in time to see a powerful emotion submerge deep within those blue doored vaults called eyes. With only a brief glimpse, she was unable to accurately analyze what she had just seen. She continued to puzzle over it until the blonde genin got up and stretched. He wore no shirt as he slept so Sakura was a little shocked to find herself running her eyes over his toned body. He was strong, really strong. All of the muscle he had was crammed into his lean form and seemed to just increase the definition of the muscles he already had. Her eyes eventually landed on the strange new markings on his chest that he would openly flaunt with the robe he had taken up wearing since then. She was so focused on the magatama that she failed to notice the growing smirk on his face.

"See anything you like Sakura-chan?" Her eyes snapped up to his and she noticed the laughter that continued to dance behind his eyes. Before she could clobber him Kakashi stepped in and spoke.

"Lets go everyone we have to make it there by today."

"Hai!"

The squad quickly got ready before they all took off.

* * *

After several hours of walking Naruto was sufficiently bored. He couldn't find anything to do either so he was literally stuck in his perpetual boredom. His eyes widened in excitement as entertainment flew their way in the form of a giant blade. The genin decided that he would play along this time and see how good his teammates were. He smiled as hit the ground while quickly pulling the others down with him.

(The fight goes the same as the show or manga because Naruto acts how he would've to test his team's skills.)

'Huh so Zabuza Momochi is after us too. This is going to be an interesting mission. It has gotta be an S-rank by now.' He glanced at the unconscious body of his teacher before turning his gaze on his slumbering team. They had finally reached Tazuna's house and after a quick meal everyone had passed out. Everyone except the blonde. He tossed and turned trying to get comfortable. Finally he sat up in a Lotus position to meditate in the hopes of calming himself to the point of exhaustion.

He opened his eyes and found himself standing before a massive cage held shut by a tag with the word "seal" on it.

A single red eye with a slit for a pupil opened and a rumbling voice caused the ground to vibrate.

"So the prisoner finally gets to meet the jailer."

A wickedly toothy grin was slowly revealed in the dark depths of the cage.

* * *

AN: This chapter was originally supposed to be the entire Wave mission but I decided that I would split it into two chapters for two reasons. One, I thought it would be better to have the fight with Zabuza in its own chapter. Two, I like to make you suffer! Nah I'm just kidding. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	3. The Great Naruto Bridge

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: I'm glad I was able to ease your previous worries. As for your new question, yes the Rinnegan is an EXTREMELY powerful doujutsu but it doesn't have the same abilities as the Sharingan. Now if you combine the two...well I think you get it.**

**McAwzome: So you escaped! Good, very good.**

**Jotunn: Wow. It means alot that you like this story. Nothing's better for me as a writer than getting a review saying how much a person loves the story. Thank you.**

**Kwimen: I can see why you're asking that. In Kakashi's case, he's waiting until they get back before he asks. You'll know why he's waiting when the time comes. As for the Third Hokage, he's heard rumors and seen Naruto's new outfit but he has yet to see him in action.**

**Mr. Motivator: Yay for motivation!**

* * *

"Today's the day that Kakashi-sensei predicted that Zabuza will attack again." The pinkette inhaled deeply and relished the feeling of fresh air before she continued. "To be honest, I'm scared." She glanced to either side of her to see if either of her teammates had even heard her. She noticed Sasuke was deep in thought and was completely ignoring. Figures. Sakura had slowly began to see Sasuke for who he was, not who she thought he was. The god-like picture of Sasuke Uchiha had started to crumble that day at the Academy. That day, when Naruto had thoroughly beaten and humiliated the Uchiha, she seen who he was. At first the smirk on his face had almost looked like a smile but his eyes... his eyes held an unfathomable amount of hatred for the one who had just beat him. After that she began to pay closer attention to Sasuke without such a massive amount of the fangirlism she had held before. Each time Sasuke was beaten his eyes told the same story: hatred. It was such a strong hatred too.

Next her eyes landed on the Uzumaki beside her. During the same time that Sasuke began to interest her less the opposite occurred for the blonde. Recently, ever since she began to keep an open mind, Naruto had impressed her over and over again. Between the unrealistic promises he somehow keeps all the way to how kindly he treated her despite how she used to treat him. Sakura never really understood, now that she looked at it, why the adults always treated Naruto like the plague. He was such a kind hearted person. Yet somehow this selfless angel of a human that is her teammate had earned the nickname "Demon Boy" from the adults. Yet, even after he had been struck in front of her, he just picked his smiling self back up. That alone was something she could never do. If she was hit like that for no reason there was no way in hell she would be smiling. There was also no way the attacker would have remained free yet he was back in the same store the next day acting like nothing ever happened. She began to walk with Naruto alot after that incident. During that time she had seen some of the nicest people she knew do some awful things to him and yet despite seemingly everyone hating him, he still smiled.

"Hey Sakura, do you need something?" Naruto's inquisitive voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Not really. Why do you ask?" She noticed the corners of his mouth began to twitch ever so slightly.

"Well you were staring at me for about five minutes and you were smiling the whole time so I thought that you were going to ask me something." There was that twitch again.

"What did you think I wanted to ask you?" She narrowed her eyes as she realized that Naruto had probably ignored her when she had broken the silence earlier.

"Well I don't know. A few thing come to mind like if I'm also afraid of Zabuza, if Gatoh is going to send any men, maybe a date when we get back, and something about Sasuke. That's all I could think of you asking." He felt that twitch again as Sakura was oblivious to what he mixed in with the guesses.

'Processing...processing...' Those were his thoughts as he looked at her thinking over what he just said.

"Well that seems about-" 'click' "wait WHAT?! A DATE!" Naruto finally let that twitch go and broke out onto a full blown grin. He chuckled as he ducked under the enraged kunoichi's fist. She gave it a few more good swings before she finally settled on crossing her arms and muttering under her breath while shooting glares at the still laughing blonde.

"A date, no. However I WILL go eat with you at Ichiraku when we get back." Sakura couldn't have been more pleased at his reaction. Their roles changed as she laughed while he tried to splutter out a coherent sentence. On the other hand, Naruto had no idea what to think or say. He had been kidding about the date when she suddenly agreed to it just without using the term "date" to describe it. He must have looked rediculous at that point. Here he was, Naruto Uzumaki the one who inherited the powers of the godly Rikudo Sennin, and he was there spluttering out incoherent words as the girl of his dreams laughed at his misfortune. The fun was ruined before he could retaliate by the masked Jounin that lead the team. Kakashi had enjoyed the conversation behind him but he had a question or two for Naruto.

"Hey Naruto I need to ask you something." Kakashi had lazily tilted his head to look at the Genin and was surprised to see him become slightly tense.

'Don't ask how, don't ask how, don't ask how...' Naruto continued to chant his mental prayer as he spoke up. "What is it Cyclops-sensei?" The "cyclops" and every other member of Team 7 sweat dropped as Naruto's infamous nicknaming ability came to play. Kakashi made a note to make their next training session extra difficult for Naruto before he continued. "You didn't leave Tsunami and Inari by themselves did you?"

"No, I left a few Kage Bunshin to leave at the house with them." Naruto stated his answer like he knew a few of his Kage Bunshin could keep half of the world safe. It was confident to a strangely comforting level.

"Ok. Just checking." He turned his head back to his book to "read" as they continued walking to the bridge.

* * *

"What happened here?!" Tazuna slowly swept his shocked gaze across the injured, dying, and already dead bodies of his workers. They had risked their lives to build this bridge and throughout the whole construction not a single person was injured. Yet now all of them were crumpled heaps that occasionally moaned in pain. No one could see far in the familiarly thick fog that clung to the bridge. They were all on their guards at the sight of the beat down before them but when the same voice echoed from everywhere they were on the brink of insanity from awareness as the Genin saerched all around them. Even Naruto.

'Throwing on that act again? Well hopefully it doesn't stay that way through this whole fight.' The Jounin stared hard into the mist until he could finally make out the silhouette of two people.

Several water clones came dashing into sight and surrounded the group of Genin that protected his target.

"So you drug the little brats along to huh. Must really want to see them die." Naruto noticed Sakura tense up slightly when he Zabuza had mentioned them dying. He made a mental note to ask about that later before he turned his attention back to the clones. They each wielded the intimidating Executioners Blade and all had death in their eyes.

"I don't think they're going to die today. At least, not if Naruto and Sasuke have anything to say about it." Kakashi's statement was punctuated by the splashes of several very dead water clones while Sasuke and Naruto stood in front of Sakura, both of them spinning a kunai on their fingers.

"Too easy don't ya think Sasuke?" Naruto didn't bother to face Sasuke and instead stared directly at the two missing Kiri ninja.

"For once I think I agree with you Dobe." The Uchiha stared at Zabuza's familiar companion realizing that the now visible hunter-nin would probably be his opponent. Naruto was glad he had learned how to switch between his regular eyes and , as he so maturely called them, his "ass kicking" eyes. Now that he thought about it, he was going to need a name for these eyes. Maybe when he got home he would try to think of one.

Even without his new eyes active, Naruto felt confident that he knew what the next few minutes would bring.

* * *

Well, Naruto turned out to be damn good at guessing things as he and Sasuke attempted to dodge another senbon barrage. Naruto could have simply repelled all of them but he didn't want to reveal his eyes yet. After the Demon Brothers were killed he knew certain people would start to ask questions about how they were taken down so easily. The last thing he needed to do was draw attention to himself by walking around with a doujutsu that was only seen on the Rikudo Sennin himself. Naruto winced when he felt the bite of the senbon punching through the skin and plunged into his left tricep. He felt another one cut his cheek while yet another hit him in the chest, several inches from piercing his heart.

He did a quick check of his teammate's condition and reached, what he would guess, an medically sound conclusion: he was FUCKED up. Senbons were sticking out of his back like he was some kind of human pin cushion. His left arm was limp from several meticulously placed senbon that temporarily disables whatever limb it hits. The paralysis could only be released when the senbon were pulled out of the chakra point and the corresponding pressure point. Naruto made his way towards the struggling Uchiha with the hopes of being able to redirect the hits.

"Naruto...stay out...of...this!" The blues eyes of the blonde met the red of eyes of the newly awakened Sharingan. Each eye only held two tomoe but it seemed like everything was trying to move through water from Sasuke's point of view. He tried to stand and was finally able to lift his head to glare at Haku but only succeeded in opening the way for the three senbon to become embedded in his chest. The Uchiha took several instinctive steps back to try and move away from the source of his pain. His Sharingan eyes began to flicker between red and black as the pain caused his knees to buckle beneath him as he slumped to his knees. His eyes were locked onto his own chest, or rather, the three new senbon that joined the other three. The red eyes finally gave way to a solid black . A strange gurgling noise emanated from the Uchiha's throat before he fell forward onto the cold, hard concrete that formed the bridge.

The sounds of a girl's screams were overpowered by the bloodthirsty roar.

* * *

Haku struggled to stand as she peered at the fist that she skewered on. The blonde snarled at her as he ripped his hand out of her chest, leaving behind a nasty, gaping, ragged hole in her chest. The blonde had experienced a complete personality shift once the other boy, Sasuke Uchiha, went down. Haku had felt awful for doing that to the poor child but she had justified the action in her mind by saying that it was what Zabuza-sama would want. She tried to fight against the blonde, god did she try, but it seemed like the Genin had released centuries of pent up rage, hatred, and animalistic ferocity all at once.

She had no chance against the onslaught that came in the form of the blonde Konoha Genin. It took several blurred seconds before she found the fist protruding from the back of her body.

Haku noticed the edges of her vision had faded considerably and the black edges threatened to consume her vision. Her knees betrayed her and she collapsed in a heap on the ground.

"Zabuza-sama..." Haku fixed her gaze on her lord, the man that saved her from a life of persecution, as he fought against the Copy Ninja Kakashi Hatake. A dark and throaty laugh began from her soon to be killer. Sh noticed that his eyes were back to the solid blue. Then a thin circle of black emerged from his pupil and moved to the edges of his eyes. Several more of the black ripples made their way out and finally settled into place after reaching an equal distance in between each one. Haku watched in fascination as three spinning tomoe swirled out of his pupils and settled on the ripple line closest to the pupil.

"Don't worry about him," That dark laugh sounded so foreign coming from, what she could guess, the usually happy-go-lucky, always chipper and smiling blonde. He produced a sword and silently removed it from the fancy sheath. "He will be joining you very soon." He extended his hand and faced the open palm at the back of the completely oblivious Zabuza.

"Bansho Ten'in."

The former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist Village found himself being ripped off the ground as it felt like gravity had suddenly changed its rules and now pulled him sideways intead of down. He caught a flash of metal and was able to see the sword punch through his chest, effectively ending his life.

Naruto frowned as he absentmindedly pulled the sword from one body only to use it to cease the struggles of the girl on the ground next to him. Naruto hated to kill people. He hated it with a passion yet he was VERY good at the killing profession. He noticed Sakura was crying at the Uchiha's body. As her tears streamed forward she also toom the initiative to began patching the wounds that her limited used of medical ninjutsu would allow. The Sharingan part of Naruto's eyes caught sight of tiny, near microscopic, movements of the chest to signify that he still drew breath. Naruto felt that pang of loneliness again as the thought of Sakura choosing Sasuke over himself made themselves quite prominent on the forefront of his mind. He watched her put her beautiful face onto Sasuke's chest. His heart nearly crumbled at that sight. However, his heart was saved when she tilted her head to the side and began to listen for a heartbeat.

-thump, thump-

Sakura let a massive smile cross her weary face.

"He's alive Naruto. He's alive." Sakura was ecstatic that she had been able to save their comrade's life. His breathing was rapidly returning to normal right before their eyes. Naruto looked up at the pinkette and noticed she was looking at him for something. It hit him pretty fast as he could recognize that facial expression and the emotions behind it anywhere, anytime. This was because he had once, and still occasionally did, worn that very same expression: she was looking for acknowledgement and acceptance.

"That was awesome Sakura-chan!" He didn't give his brain time to think as he lunged at Sakura and wrapped her up into a big bear hug.

Sakura blushed profusely at the blonde who's arms she was currently in. She was happy that he acknowledged her achievement. For some reason, his acknowledgement of it made the feat even better. She never felt him lift his hand carefully from her and point it behind the at the gathering mob of mercenaries.

"Shinra Tensei." He disguised the muttering with a series of coughs. He seen the mercenaries fly off the bridge without a sound. Well everyone but Gatoh was quiet. He screamed for his life as he dangled from the bridge. A fall into the water at that height would be the same as swan diving into concrete. He heard a few footsteps above him and looked at the blonde above him. He immediately began to panic when he seen the contempt in the blue, rippled eyes.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

The weapons that the fallen mercenaries had dropped floated all around the blonde and pointed directly at Gatoh's helplessly suspended body. His pleas for mercy fell upon deaf ears. Naruto turned his back to the pathetic "thing" hanging from the bridge before he spoke once more.

"Shinra Tensei."

The weapons all hit their mark and several seconds later a splash from below was the only thing to mark Gatoh's final resting place.

* * *

Tazuna watched the receeding figures of Team 7 as he spoke.

"So what should we name this bridge?"

Inari was the one to name the soon to be famous bridge.

"The Great Naruto Bridge."

* * *

AN: Wow l. So I REALLY didn't like writing that chapter. I was never that creative with the Zabuza fight so I rushed it to the point where I missed some key points I could've tweaked for a better outcome. I would like to apologize right now if this chapter seems below par and I promise to rectify this with the next few chapters. As always Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	4. The Chunin Exams: Part I

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: Yes, I know how you feel. I like Zabuza and Haku too. But I needed to do this. One reason was to show how strong Naruto really can be while another reason is because I already had Naruto declare that he has no love for missing nin. He will give them one chance before he proceeds to act with the intent to kill if they refuse. There may be very few exceptions to this. Hopefully you keep enjoying the story.**

**Fan01: Yes, Zabuza and Haku are dead.**

**Drums4life: Yeah I just figured that since she loves her perceived image of Sasuke then if someone began to break that image well there is no doubt in my mind that her feelings would have rapidly shifted to her hyperactive, knucklehead of a teammate. You know the one :)**

**Mr. Motivator: Thank you. As for your question: soon. Very, very soon.**

**Nanai: Well the Chunin Exams are here so hopefully they don't disappoint. If they do, I will run across the United States 100 times on my hands! Haha...Wait...what have I just signed myself up for?!**

**sortofbored: Well I'll do my best to make sure you continue to like it.**

Message from the Author: I have decided to start with the third exam and just do flashbacks to the second exam. I find the first one is INCREDIBLY boring to write about so I'm not even going to try.

* * *

"Congratulations on passing the second exam! From now on things are going to get much more difficult for all of you." Naruto tuned out the Third Hokage and instead turned his attention to his pink haired kunoichi comrade. A lot had changed during the Second Exam and Naruto wasn't so sure he actually knew what she was thinking. From her actions during their time in the Forest of Death he wasn't sure he knew who she loved anymore.

_-Flashback Begins-_

_No one knew what just happened. One minute all three of them were jumping through the trees and the next minute the air itself seemed to slam into Naruto and send him flying through the forest, breaking trees and branches as he flew._

_"Naruto!" Sakura seemed frantic as she called out for the blonde but the only answer she got was a chilling laugh and a spike of killer intent so massive that it brought her to her knees. She didn't even need to look into the pale woman's face to see her death. Why do that when her death was playing in her very eyes. Tears began to fall uninterrupted as the images engraved themselves on her brain._

_"Kukuku. Don't worry about little Naruto-kun. I'm not going to kill him yet. No his eyes are much too precious to be wasted like that."_

_'His eyes?' Sakura and Sasuke's thoughts echoed each others but they couldn't dwell on such things when two kunai were thrown directly at their faces._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Naruto had to think quickly. His eyes flared to life and he pointed a hand at a tree he just passed._

_"Bansho Ten'in!"_

_The tree didn't budge. Instead, Naruto used the tree as the center and focussed the gravitational pull on himself. The force of the air bullet was cancelled out and Naruto soon found himself holding onto a tree branch._

_"SASUKE!"_

_The cry rang out loud and clear, the pain in Sakura's voice was evident and pushed Naruto into action. Desperate to reach his team sooner Naruto decided to do something incredibly stupid. After each chakra enhanced jump he used Shinra Tensei on the tree branch using his foot as the release point. After three Shinra Tensei jumps he crashed head first into the clearing where he watched a pale faced man or woman (he couldn't tell at his angle) sink his or her teeth into Sasuke's neck. He quickly scanned the area for his other teammate and soon located her. Sakura was holding her side and leaning against a tree, she looked very exhausted and very injured. Each of her legs had several deep gashes that prevented her legs from supporting her weight. Her arms were cut and singed while a single kunai protruded from her shoulder. She was helpless in this situation and could only watch as Sasuke fought a very one sided battle. The clearing sported several new gashes in the earth and plenty of fresh burn marks, the smell of burning flesh and burnt wood permeated the air in some sort of sick mixture of nature and death. The teeth were removed from Sasuke's neck as the mouth opened so the head could return to its normal position. Sasuke cried out in pain and fell to his knees while trying to cover his neck and tear the new marks out that were causing him such pain. He continued to try both of the actions before his eyes widened. His overly large pupils shrank to almost nothing in an instant and Sasuke fell face first into the earth and stayed there in an unmoving heap._

_"You fucking teme! What did you do to Sasuke?!" Naruto brought his furious gaze to rest on the eyes of the pale, half melted face that belonged to what he assumed was a guy. The pale faced "Genin" licked his or her lips with an unusually long tongue._

_"Tsk tsk Naruto-kun. Why weren't you here sooner when I was giving Sasuke-kun his gift? You're too late to get yours. Maybe another time kukuku." Still laughing, the pale teme sunk into the ground and disappeared from sight. Naruto felt the evil aura and killer intent that flooded the area vanish along with the strange Grass shinobi._

_"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."_

_Eleven more Narutos poofed into life and set out on their tasks. One went to go gather up Sasuke and check his vitals while eight more took up watch and disappeared into the leaves. The final two had split up the task of finding somewhere to hide and leapt into the trees before disappearing into the forest in two different directions. The real Naruto quickly made his way to Sakura and began to treat her wounds. The kunai was deeply embedded in her shoulder, the handle being the only exposed part of the weapon. Sakura was breathing hard while she tried to do some basic combat first aid to stop, or reduce, the amount of blood she was losing from several deep slashes and cuts. Naruto felt like he was being stabbed in the stomach repeatedly as he saw her constantly wincing in pain._

_"Naruto could you please grab my pouch. It should have my medical kit inside. I lost it over in those bushes you came through when we fought...whatever that shinobi was." Naruto quickly stood and began to search for the lost pouch. During his search one of his two scouting Shadow Clones dispelled. The memories flooded his mind and he quickly sorted out what the clone wanted him to see. He grinned at his clone's find and redoubled his efforts to find the pouch. After another two minutes of frustrating searching he threw his hands up and groaned. Tilting his head back he caught sight of glinting metal. Upon closer inspection he realized it was a kunai pinning Sakura's pouch to the tree. He sprinted up the tree, grabbed the pouch, and hurried back to Sakura._

_She instantly smiled upon his return and her smile only grew once he produced her pouch. Several minutes later and plenty of tape, gauze, and thread in the case of the shoulder wound, Sakura was able to bear the pain of standing. Naruto had the Shadow Clone grab Sasuke as he stuck close to Sakura in case she collapsed. Their progress was painstakingly slow and Sakura kept apologising for slowing them down. Finally Naruto decided to try something to speed them up._

_"Sakura-chan." The blonde turned his head to face the kunoichi as they took another quick break._

_"Nani?" Sakura turned her head to show that he had her attention._

_"Do you trust me?" He fought back the sly grin that threatened to reveal his plans._

_"What kind of question is that? We're teammates, of course I trust you. Why?" Sakura still didn't get where he was heading with this._

_After a few moments of thinking, Naruto smiled and nodded his head. "Good. Well I guess we better get going now." Sakura went to stand when she suddenly found herself being swept into a pair of white clad arms. She found herself staring into his blue, rippled eyes. He didn't bother deactivating his eyes since he had an advantage to keep them going. It wasn't like he was losing chakra either. Since his eyes had been changed his new eyes were his natural eyes so he wasn't using chakra to maintain something natural. She quickly realized that she was getting lost in his deep blue eyes and instead focussed on the fact that he was carrying her._

_"Naruto I can walk on my own."_

_"This is much faster. Don't worry, you said that you trusted me and I'm not about to betray that trust. So just sit back and enjoy the ride." He gave Sakura a warm smile before he refocused his attention on jumping through the trees. To her credit, she didn't even lose her temper once._

_She snuggled into his chest and the exhaustion of the fight finally caught up with her._

_"Thank you, Naruto-kun."_

_-End Flashback-_

After that Naruto had decided to head for the tower. He found the other scroll they needed and went straight for the tower. They were the first team to arrive. Upon arrival, Naruto sent Sakura and Sasuke to the infirmary. He then found Kakashi in the room assigned to Team 7 and reported the run in with the Grass shinobi. After that, Naruto hadn't seen any of his teammates until today. He had spent most of the time trying to evaluate the relationship between Sakura and himself. The results of said self evaluation was frustrating and confusing so he stopped thinking about that. Instead, he took the rest of the time to hone his mastery of his doujutsu. During one of his meditation sessions, he stumbled across another memory of the Rikudo Sennin and finally learned the name of his eyes. The Sage called them the Eternal Mangekyou Rinnegan. Naruto decided that the name was too long and began to think of another. He was still thinking.

He let out a frustrated sigh at the confusing thoughts he was having and began to glance around. He noticed that the Suna team didn't have a scratch on them. He felt a strangely familiar pull when his eyes locked with the red head. It was unsettling thinking that he knew the boy without actually ever meeting him. He gave his head a quick shake and continued to scan the group. His eyes finally settled on Kabuto's back. His previous suspicions were still fresh in his mind. He remembered the cards that Kabuto had and how much information was on them. When Sasuke asked about Naruto, Kabuto produced the requested card. At the angle Naruto had been standing, he was able to see the card before it was revealed. He had quickly snatched the card and burnt it to ensure his secret wasn't revealed. A secret that his teammates didn't know much about. In fact even the Third Hokage was still in the dark about it. He had lied to Kakashi when the one eyed Jounin had confronted him and was still barely maintaining the shroud of secrecy around his eyes. The same shroud that he highly doubted would remain after today was over.

"For the first match of the preliminary round we have..." the sickly proctor turned to watch the screen roll.

Kabuto Yakushi

Vs.

Kiba Inuzuka

Naruto grinned. The preliminaries were finally beginning and he wanted to have fun.

* * *

Naruto was extremely disappointed. He had been matched up against the puppet user from Suna, Kankuro. The fight was fast. Really fast. Naruto had opened with a barrage of wind bullets that were strong enough to punch holes through the puppet. Naruto had quickly followed up by using the bullets for cover to reach Kankuro. After that it was as simple as holding his sword to the boy's throat and it ended the match. He didn't even get to use his eyes.

The final line up was determined by drawing a slip of paper with a number on it. The line up went as follows:

Naruto Uzumaki vs. Kabuto Yakushi

Gaara no Sabaku vs. Sasuke Uchiha

Rock Lee vs. Neji Hyuuga

Hinata Hyuuga vs. Sakura Haruno

Shino Aburame vs. Shikamaru Nara

Sakura had surprised everyone by pulling the win off against the Sound kunoichi. During the whole match she could hear Naruto constantly yelling out his support to her. When she had finally won, Naruto was extremely happy for her. When she got back up by the rest of Team 7 Naruto had shown his joy by wrapping her up in a big hug. She surprised everyone who saw by returning the hug. After that he noticed Sakura was almost always watching him when she thought he wasn't looking. He took note of her behaviour and mentally filed it away for later.

"You have one month to prepare for the finals. Use this time wisely. Dismissed.

* * *

Naruto walked absentmindedly throughout the village. He had trained from early morning to mid afternoon and he was both mentally and physically exhausted. Well, he was exhausted until he noticed Sakura was heading his way. He didn't bother to put his arms by his side and instead kept his hands laced together behind his head, the living embodiment of comfortable at that moment.

"Hey Sakura-chan." He heard her footsteps beside him but didn't get an answer.

"Hey are you ok Sakura-chan?" Again no answer. He stopped walking and turned to focus on her and saw the reason she wasn't talking. Sakura sat lost deep in thought about her relationship with her teammates. She had always thought she liked Sasuke but now that image of perfection lost large chunks every day. She had soon been left with the image of the real Sasuke. The real, power hungry, revenge driven, uncaring image. She could easily say that she viewed Sasuke as a close friend. Not a crush. She was driven from her thoughts when someone called her name while tapping her shoulder. Reality came rushing back and she found herself standing in front of a concerned Naruto.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you still alive?" He lowered his head to look into her eyes. She felt her cheeks flare to life at the attention he was showing her.

"Yeah Naruto, I'm fine. Just got lost in thought is all." She gave him the most convincing smile she had and watched as the blonde responded with his own mega-watt smile. She felt a warmth spread through her at the sight of his smile.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you want to come with me to Ichiraku's?" She was about to accept until she noticed the time.

"Sorry Naruto I can't today. I've got genjutsu training with Kurenai-sensei in five minutes." That warm feeling left when his smile dropped slightly. Instead she leaned over and kissed Naruto on one of his whiskered cheeks. He was absolutely, without a doubt, shocked.

"Thank you for believing in me Naruto. I'll see ya later!" With that the pinkette disappeared onto the rooftops leaving a stunned blonde behind.

"Sakura-chan kissed me...Sakura-chan kissed me!" The smile returned bigger than ever and the blonde felt energized beyond comprehension. He booked it down the road determined to train until he thought he was ready.

* * *

AN: Sorry this wasn't up yesterday. I type on my Kindle since I don't have a computer and my Kindle decided it was going to break up with FF for a day. But I'm back now and give you this chapter! Sorry if some of you guys were disappointed about the lack of fighting. The Chunin Exams are big but honestly, I REALLY didn't want to write the preliminaries. But have no fear! The next few chapters will have their fair share of fighting. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	5. The Chunin Exams: Part II

Ok since you guys are all awesome I decided to do a double release. Enjoy the treat!

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: Thank you! It means alot to hear I'm doing a good job! I will continue to try and post as often as possible.**

**Guest: Thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.**

* * *

One month had come and gone faster than any of the participants could have imagined. After the night Sakura had kissed Naruto's cheek he had disappeared from the village along with the just recently returned Jiraiya of the Legendary Three Sannin. The blonde and the super pervert hadn't been seen inside Konoha at all that month and many people had to speculate what was happening. Did Jiraiya leave and take the boy with him? Did Naruto run from the village and since he is a Jinchuuriki Lord Third was forced to send Jiraiya? Or is Naruto Uzumaki receiving training from the Toad Sage himself? People could only guess a speculate although option three was rapidly gaining popularity. All one needed to justify their reasoning would be found by looking at the rest of Team 7. Sakura Haruno was receiving training from the genjutsu master Kurenai Yuhi and she was becoming deadly with it was the rumors going around. Sasuke Uchiha was being trained by the one and only Copy Ninja of Konoha, Kakashi Hatake. Rumor there was Sasuke was learning a very powerful jutsu but no one knew anything else.

The other finalists had trained extraofdinarily hard to grow on their already impressive skills. It was the day of the finals and yet Naruto was nowhere to be found. Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi all searched high and low but still couldn't find him.

"Well I guess the dobe blew his chance. I'm not going to miss my opportunity though." With that said Sasuke disappeared in a swirl of leaves soon to be followed by Kakashi. Sakura took one last look around his apartment before she turned and closed the door, only one thought weighed heavily on her mind.

'Where are you Naruto?'

* * *

Everyone was present besides one unpredictable knucklehead ninja named Naruto Uzumaki. He had five minutes to show before he was removed from the tournament. Kabuto was waiting patiently on the field with a smug grin on his face. The other Genin, excluding Gaara, anxiously scanned the stadium for their friend. It was Gaara who surprised everyone by speaking.

"He's here."

True to his statement, the air began to twist in a violent funnel that eventually connected with the ground. The sheer force of the twister was enough to pick up dirt and other items and throw them around the stadium. Finally the twister dispersed in a shockwave of air and revealed two figures. The entrance would have been amazing if the two hadn't begun to talk.

"See Ero-Sennin, THAT'S how you make an entrance!" The blonde figure looked pretty much the same except his robe now had orange tipped black flames along the hem of his cloak.

"Are you kidding gaki?! It would've been much better if we used Chief Toad!" The white haired man was yelling at the enthusiastic blonde who all but ignored him. With a sigh, Jiraiya disappeared in a cloud of smoke only to reappear beside the Hokage.

The proctor stepped forward and glanced at the blonde. "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

"The one and only dattebayo!" The mega smile could be seen in the contestant bunker.

"Ok then let the match..." He looked at both contestants, "BEGIN!" He dropped his hand and jumped back. Naruto didn't move but watched as Kabuto activated Chakra Scalpels on either hand. He grinned as he pointed at Naruto.

"Hey you destroyed that card of mine. That wasn't polite." Naruto still didn't flinch as he seemed to be focussed on something else entirely. He completely ignored the mindless chatter that came from Kabuto and continued to focus. Finally Kabuto had enough and charged Naruto. Sakura knew what those Chakra Scalpels could do to you and yelled at the immobile blonde.

"Naruto watch out! Those cut you from the inside!" He didn't even acknowledge the voice and maintained his focus. Just as Kabuto reached him the blonde's hand was suddenly clamped onto Kabuto's forearm and the blonde was already air born, using Kabuto as a balance and pivot for his motion in air. Naruto's eyes snapped open and a murmer of shock spread throughout the stadium. Jiraiya sat smirking next to the Third Hokage at everyone's reactions.

"Really Jiraiya? You taught him that?" Lord Third motioned to Naruto as he spoke to his former student.

"It only took him a week to get to this point. The rest of the time was spent learning that jutsu." Jiraiya turned his attention back to the field.

Kabuto sat staring straight into the frog like eyes of his opponent. Every move Kabuto made was either dodged or countered by the blonde. Kabuto slashed at his face and missed only to be hit by a blast of chakra guided air.

"That is Frog Kumite." The blonde stood proudly where he was. Kabuto realized that he was getting nowhere fast with attacking.

"Well, well. You have certainly improved Naruto-kun. If only I had my card to mark your progress..." Kabuto smirked while Naruto rolled his eyes.

"That card held secrets about me that not even the Third Hokage kows yet. Along with the fact that it almost revealed who my parents were...don't get me wrong, I can't wait to meet my parents but not because of some stupid card."

"Well you didn't need to burn it." He smirked even more as he said his next words. "I guess that's what happens when you don't have good parents." The hand was around his throat before the air rustled to signify that he moved. Kabuto smiled at how perfect it all just went.

"What...did you...just say?!" The yellow flashed dangerously red and a continuous flicker was seen between yellow and red.

"As much as I'd like to chat, my master ordered me to kill you so Sasuke-kun wouldn't have to worried about being persued." Before Naruto could say his question he felt Kabuto's fingertips come to a rest directly over his heart before moving in an X pattern. Naruto's grip loosened and he stumbled backwards. He stared blankly at Kabuto before a little stream of blood flowed out of his mouth. Kabuto quickly closed the gap and began to slash away. Finally he stopped, turned around, readjusted his glasses, and listened to Naruto's body hit the ground with a satisfied smile.

"Proctor, Naruto Uzumaki is dead."

* * *

Naruto floated in the blackness and watched clips of his life go flying by. He seen the picture with Team 7 and tried to grab it only for it to burn up. All around him were memories of pain, loneliness, despair, and hatred. With each memory a hatred to live grew deep within his stomach. Just as he was about to turn away from life a flash of pink caught his eye.

'Thank you for believing in me.'

Sakura's words echoed continuously throughout the room.

'Thank you Naruto-kun.'

That hatred was now replaced by the love of the pink haired kunoichi.

'Kick his ass Naruto! Shannaro!'

The preliminary round had brought out a little Inner Sakura with that outburst. Suddenly, life didn't seem so bad. His resolve locked into place as he gently rubbed the area she kissed.

"I'll live. I'll live for SAKURA-CHAN!"

* * *

Everyone just stared at the lifeless body of Naruto Uzumaki. They had all heard Kabuto's declaration but they refused to believe it. Sakura was in tears when she felt a damn burst.

"Naruto Uzumaki! Don't you DARE die and leave me alone with Sasuke! Who else will tease the emo out of him?! Who else will play all of the pranks around here? Who else will constantly support the friends you have? And who else will declare their eternal love for me?!" Sakura finished with tears blinding her. Even Sasuke had silent tears running down his cheeks at the sight of his surrogate brother lying dead in the dirt. Many people in the audience had heard Sakura's outburst and many began to realize how much of an impact he had around Konoha. Sure he generally made life miserable but it was a fun, carefree kind of miserable. Some even chuckled as they recalled the blonde's antics.

Sakura never heard anything. All she felt was the hand come to rest on her cheek and the thumb wipe away the tears.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan. I'll be here to do all of that and more!" With a gasp, everyone realized that Naruto was balanced on the railing in front of Sakura. "Now please stop crying. I hate to see your tears." She nodded dumbly and Naruto grinned before he turned his attention to the visibly pale Kabuto.

"Kabuto Yakushi," Naruto began, his voice echoing through the stadium, "you have stolen secrets from Konoha that could be the difference of life or death for this village. I have also directly observed you in a meeting with Orochimaru himself. As a witness to these events I stand as a self made executioner. It doesn't help you that you've already insulted my parents. For these crimes I will follow through on your execution."

Still reeling from being exposed as a spy, Kabuto reactivated his Chakra Scalpels and prepared to finish the job. Naruto's eyes flared to life and the ripple pattern shot out of his now blue eyes. Three tomoe took up their position on the first ripple except something else began to happen. Out of his pupil shot three more tomoe that took up positions on the next ripple directly diagonal to the corresponding tomoe in the first three. The diagonal pattern was set to head towards the edges of his eyes. Kabuto gulped as he took several involuntary steps back.

"Behold what you tried to expose Kabuto. This is a power that has been unseen since the Rikudo Sennin became the Jinchuuriki to the Jyubi. Behold the Eternal Mangekyou Rinnegan!" The Uzumaki stood and lifted his head proudly so all could see. The blonde, now finished with his speech, looked down at the trembling Kabuto. "Time to die."

Naruto charged the stumbling spy and began to barrage him with a mixture of taijutsu and ninjutsu. He formed a ninjutsu from each of the five different nature manipulations. Kabuto ducked under the hammerfist only to have a THIRD arm smash him in the jaw. Naruto quickly transformed the third arm into a blade and severed the tendons on the inside of Kabuto's knees forcing the man to a kneeling position. The third arm disappeared and Naruto's right hand transformed into a cannon which he then pointed at the back of Kabuto's head.

"Kabuto Yakushi I give you one more chance: what is Orochimaru planning!" Naruto let his aim fall to Kabuto's chest area.

"I don't know what you're talking about Naruto-kun." Kabuto let out a dark chuckle until he heard Naruto speak.

"Asura Attack."

The cannon fired a ball of energy straight through Kabuto's chest. Before the spy could die, Naruto shifted his hand back and rested it atop the dying man's head. Naruto's fingers curled inwards and he pulled. Kabuto's soul came out with his hand and he quickly absorbed it. He ignored the thud of a body hitting the floor and pointed his cannon at the Kazekage.

"What is he-"

The shot ripped through the robes and chest of the Kazekage. His skin peeled away at his face and Hiruzen gasped to see Orochimaru's eyes. Four ninja suddenly appeared and grabbed onto Orochimaru who then disappeared along with the four others. Through all of this excitement Naruto stood and watched it unfold. When everything had happened Naruto spoke up.

"If it's all the same, may we continue with the Exam?" A roar of laughter erupted throughout the stadium as everyone began to cheer his name.

"NARUTO! NARUTO! NARUTO!"

* * *

AN: Ok just wanted to get this up as soon as possible. The idea was rattling around inside my head for days now so it's good to finally have it out there. Since this chapter is a dual release on the same day just put any questions on this chapter. Now my question to you is: should I end the Exams here or write one or two more fights? The choice is all up to you guys. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	6. Early Departure

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: With Naruto's response to Sakura's (semi) confession I believe that Naruto would be the kind of person that would end up saying something cheesy but with the depth of emotion that he conveys it would be taken how it was meant. Idk that's my thoughts. Also it's good to hear that you like how Kabuto kicked the bucket.**

**Jotunn: Originally I had planned to have it where Naruto just executed Kabuto with a simple head shot but then I thought "hey if Naruto takes his soul it would look cool and make it believable that he knows where Orochimaru is. Sadly that pale faced teme must live...for now...**

**Enlace: Yeah I probably should but I don't want to spend too much time on the Chunin Exams. I am using his childhood to set up the really big backstory for what's to come. Although, Gaara still has to become friends with Naruto somehow.**

**knowin72: Thank you very much.**

**Guest: Thank you. Yes I purposely skipped chunks of time. I'm not going to be focusing on his childhood. Like I said before his childhood is just a precursor of what is to come. Also Sakura's turnaround has been happening for several months in this story. I don't like to rush things. Also I believe that if Sakura's image of Sasuke would've crumbled when they were kids then her attention would have shifted much faster.**

**god of all: Trust me, I don't plan on stopping this story anytime soon.**

**guest (2 I'm just adding numbers to each guest): Thank you for the compliment.**

**joe: I don't like to make people wait. Hopefully I can continue a speedy update speed.**

**Nanai: Thank you. I'm glad this was a good chapter!**

**kidloco: Thank you for your compliments (I'm starting to sound like a broken record lol).**

**Showtime09: Sorry but I realized I need this chapter. Hopefully you enjoy it.**

**McAwzome: That is an excellent idea! Oh and Sasuke is TOTALLY EMO! Lol!**

* * *

Gaara no Sabaku vs. Sasuke Uchiha

The tension in the air was stifling as the two fighters glared at each other, both willing the other to make the first move. Sasuke gladly granted Gaara his unspoken wish and charged the Suna genin. Just as his fist was about to connect the sand rushed to his defense just as Sasuke expected. The soft sand latched onto the fist that hit it and began to swiftly encircle the whole being.

"Sand Coffin."

The voice that spoke it was cold and uncaring. His outstretched hand waiting for his target to be completely encased. Up in the contestant' bunker Naruto, Sakura, and the rest of the finalists watched the sand as rapidly surrounded and encased their friend. Sakura was horrified after what she seen that sand do to the Sound-nin and her brain was frantically combing over their options. She then heard Naruto snicker and turned on him so she could knock him into next week. That is when she noticed his eyes.

"Just watch Sakura-chan." He pointed over her shoulder at the mass of sand.

"Sand Burial."

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the stadium. Realizing his mistake, Gaara heard the chirping of a flock of birds behind him. The sand rushed to his defense but the lightning passed right through the sand like nothing was there. Gaara felt a sharp tearing sensation in his shoulder and looked down to find a lightning covered hand protruding from his right shoulder.

"Chidori!"

The cry shot across the cheering audience. Everyone were on their feet as excitement rippled through the air at the display they were just shown. Sasuke did no such celebrating. He felt sand wrap around his throat before it picked him up and launched him into the stadium walls. Gaara still stared at his wound in shock, even when the sand enclosed him in a massive cocoon. The cheering stopped and was replaced by a murmur of curiosity. The eye that floated above the cocoon was unnerving to many and was faced in the direction that Sasuke had been thrown in. The eye was locked onto the crater in the wall.

"Sasuke you have to stop this now!" Naruto's voice rang clear throughout the stadium and many people dismissed his fears. The eye turned towards Naruto for an instant before movement in the wall recaptured its attention. Sasuke pulled himself out and leaned against the wall, bent over and spitting out blood. He knew he had a concussion from slamming into the wall that hard but instead focussed on this final move. He had just enough chakra for it and he was determined to make it count. He took off at a run, hugging the wall, as he built up speed. The whole time he concentrated chakra into the palm of his hand. He was already a blur when the lightning sparked to life and the blur twisted towards the cocoon. The rapidly approaching figure was met with spikes of sand that were easily dodged before the blur stopped, becoming Sasuke once again. His hand was embedded in the cocoon and he felt something moving about before a large claw like hand burst out of the cocoon, knocking Sasuke out and pinning him to a wall. The hand was left there and a new one took its place.

"Shukaku. The One Tailed Demon is released." Naruto ran and jumped onto the railing before he turned and faced the other finalists. "Stay out of this fight. You will only end up dying." With that he jumped into the arena just as the cocoon broke apart and formed a tail on Gaara. The crazed genin spun around to face the interruption. Once his eyes locked onto the ripples in Naruto's blue eyes he began to salivate and he smiled like a crazy man smiles at his next victim.

"You! I've been waiting for you!" The voice sounded half demonic and the star shaped eyes held Naruto's gaze.

"Shukaku release this boy from your control!" Naruto's voice held a commanding tone and signalled no fear towards the transforming boy. The genin brought his one free hand up like he was thinking before he smiled.

"No."

Like a damn had broken, massive amounts of sand rushed at the transforming boy and attached to his body. Naruto watched as the sand grew higher and higher before it filled out into Shukaku's form. The body solidified and finally the mighty demon was free. Screams ripped through the air as people tried to escape only for a dome of sand to spread out and encase the stadium.

"I want all of these people here to watch as you fail to protect them. Then they all get to die!" Shukaku's laugh was full of amusement at his own plan. He laughed even harder when the blonde at his feet sighed and began walking away from him. Shukaku watched on in amusement as the boy stopped and slammed his hands together. The following words immediately stopped the demon's laughter and replaced it with fear.

"Kuchiyose: Gedo Mazo!"

The ground began to rumble and a massive statue began to rise up from the ground. Its eyes were blindfolded and it roared at Shukaku. The demon nearly trembled in fear.

"What are you doing kid?!" Shukaku took several instinctive steps back as he tried to put more distance between him and the statue.

"I'm going to seal away your chakra until you give total control over to the child." With that Naruto made a hand seal and a blue aufa surrounded Shukaku. The demon watched as his own red chakra was pulled into the open mouth and began to panic. He finally cried out.

"Ok! You win!" The blue aura faded and beneath the blindfold, one eye was halfway open. "I guess you really are the next Rikudo Sennin."

Everyone was dumbfounded to hear that statement from one of the legendary Bijuu. Did Naruto really just beat a tailed beast?

True to his word, the sand fell away and Gaara's weakend form began to fall.

"Bansho Ten'in."

Gaara felt himself get pulled into the open hand of Naruto Uzumaki. He couldn't help but think, is this how it ends? He felt the claw like hands on his stomach twist and it was like a huge weight was lifted from Gaara's shoulders.

"What did you just do?" Gaara gazed at the blonde with curiosity.

"I sealed away Shukaku. If you ever need him his chakra is still there but now you must voluntarily relinquish control for him to take over." Naruto smiled at the red head but before he could say anymore Baki appeared and grabbed Gaara. Gaara was about to protest when they disappeared. But Naruto had heard Gaara's last words.

"Thank you Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

"You know what sucks about this whole thing?"

"What could possibly suck? You've made it so that people don't actively beat you and call you a demon child. I say again what could possibly suck?"

"I didn't get to kick the teme's ass."

"That's because he was hospitalized with a major concussion. Let's also not forget that the hand pinning him down had been constricting the entire time so his chest and ribs are seriously damaged."

"Good point Sakura-chan...well guess I'll just kick his ass when he gets out." Naruto adopted his smile once again as him and Sakura walked down the street.

"Naruto Uzumaki you are an unbelievable baka!" Sakura mumbled into her palm which was pressed firmly to her face in light of Naruto's latest stupidity. Naruto just chuckled and continued walking. He examined his walking companion out of the corner of his eyes. Ever since her motivational speech at the Chunin Exams she had spent alot more time with him. Not that he was complaining it just seemed out of character for her. He did a mental shrug and kept walking. He was about to ask her something when his super pervert of a teacher landed in front of him.

"Hey gaki pack your bags." Jiraiya's eyes lingered on Sakura's slim figure.

'Oh she will be worth researching when she gets older! Maybe when we get back...'

"What for Ero-Sennin?"

"I told you not to call me that! As for your question, we are leaving on a two or three year training trip. We need to get you ready for them." Naruto knew this had been coming and dropped his hands from their relaxed position. Sakura's head was reeling with questions.

"How long do I have?" The blonde looked close to depressed. He didn't want to leave now considering everything with Sakura but he had no choice.

"30 minutes. See you at the front gate." The pervert disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Well Sakura-chan I guess this is goodbye...for two years..." Sakura gave Naruto a hug before he too vanished. He knew he had to leave then otherwise it would become too hard to leave.

* * *

-Front Gate-

Naruto was beside Jiraiya as they exited Konoha. They both walked in a different kind of silence. Jiraiya was quite as he planned what they would do for the next two years. Naruto walked silently out of a growing depression. Leaving now meant Sakura had two years to build a relationship with Sasuke. Naruto knew he had lost. At least, he thought that until a familiar voice rang out.

"Naruto wait!"

The blonde's ear perked up and be twisted around to see Sakura come up to them. She couldn't stop the blush from growing and decided to act quickly.

"Sakura-chan what are you-"

His question was cut off...by her lips. The boy was shocked to the point of immobility as he felt her soft lips against his. She pressed a little harder before she pulled back to look into his wide eyes.

"I know you've always loved me and I know this is a little late but I want you to know that I am waiting for you. For now that kiss will have to do." The shell shocked genin snapped out of his comatose like state and nodded while smiling his biggest, most heart warming smile.

"Good bye Naruto-kun."

And just like that the pinkette was gone. Naruto heard Jiraiya snicker and turned around.

"Well well. It looks as though someone just had their first kiss."

Naruto let the realization sink in before he shouted one word that was loud enough for the whole village to hear.

"YATTAAAAAAAA!"

* * *

AN: And boom goes the dynamite lol. Yeah I decided that Naruto will leave the village early. A LOT will change. Trust me. Hopefully you like the change. For now please Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Question from the Author: On the request of McAwzome I've decided to ask you all a question. If you could use one jutsu what would it be and why?


	7. Letters

**Review Responses:**

**Jotunn: Don't worry his time is coming.**

**Drums4life: Yes and many more pervy moments are to come.**

**Narusaku: Don't worry about the Tsunade thing. I've had that planned out. You must trust my abilities young one lol. Jk I'm probably younger than you in all honesty but I have been wrong. Either way enjoy the chapter.**

**Mr. Motivator: Yeah I know how over done the invasion is. I read a lot of stories on here.**

**knowin72: Thank you.**

* * *

To Naruto

Hey Naruto its been a few weeks. I already miss you. Life has been WAY too quiet without you hear. Our friends still don't know about us though I kind of figured you should announce it with me. Also everyone is still talking about someone shouting yatta loud enough for the whole village to hear. I'm so glad I wasn't next to you when you did that.

Sasuke has nearly made a dull recovery but Lee was hurt really bad in a recent mission. He still hasn't woken up and it has been a week. I hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Sakura

* * *

To Sakura-chan

It's awesome to hear from you! Life has been really boring without you here. Also good call with the announcement hehe. I can't wait to see you again. Ero-Sennin has been "researching" at every stop we made! The damn pervert is going to get us both killed. I hope Lee recovers soon. I'm not suppose to tell you but our next stop is in Suna. Maybe I'll get to see Gaara! That would be awesome.

Tell the teme that I can't wait to kick his ass!

I love you Sakura-chan, now and always dattebayo! Well I gotta go. Hope this gets to you soon.

Love Naruto

* * *

Dear Naruto

Lee's condition has gotten much worse. The poison is slow moving and is damaging his nervous system. Our medical staff can't cure it so Lord Third is sending Kakashi, Sasuke, Kiba, and me out to find and retrieve Lady Tsunade. I'm so excited to meet her! I wonder if she will take me on as her apprentice? Well anyways Sasuke can't wait to put you in your place as he says.

Love

Sakura

* * *

To Sakura-chan

I had my first encounter with Sasuke's brother. You can't tell him that I ran into him. He will know when the time comes. Good luck on your mission. Well I should be saying good job on the successful mission. News spreads fast and everyone is talking about how a team of Konoha shinobi convinced Tsunade-sama to come back.

Love

Naruto

* * *

To Naruto

He...he left...Sasuke left. He was acting so strange...I should've noticed! I...I should've stopped him. He injured a lot of our friends. Four Sound shinobi came for him but he killed them. He left and...and...oh god it's just so horrible! Izuma and Kotetsu were both injured trying to stop him. The night he left...he...he tried to kill...me. He kept talking about severing all bonds...and...and he's going to kill you. I heard him say that after he stabbed me. I'm writing to you from the hospital. Please...be careful.

Love

Sakura

* * *

To Naruto

It has been several months since your last letter. I'm starting to get concerned.

I've been training under Tsunade-sama in medical ninjutsu. It turns out I'm a natural at it. Please write back Naruto I'm worried about you.

Love

Sakura

* * *

To Naruto

I have terrible news. L...Lord Third is dead. Sasuke and Orochimaru attacked last night. Orochimaru erected a barrier and left Sasuke to fight us off. Sasuke...he has become so strong...its not human...he is still after you. Please be careful.

Love

Sakura

* * *

Sakura gazed at the last letter Naruto had sent two years ago. Tsunade had been initiated as the Fifth Hokage and Sakura had been busy making her mark in the field of medicine. She wore her regular skin tight black shorts underneath her usual skirt with her red top accentuating her shoulder length pink hair (Think Shippuden Sakura). She was currently on her way to meet Tsunade to see what she was called for. She tore her gaze away from the letter and placed it in her tool pouch for safe keeping. She let out a sad sigh as she climbed the stairs to the Hokage's office.

"Damn paperwork!" -crash- "Damn desk!"

Sakura shook her head and opened the door to see Tsunade's desk was broken in half and paperwork was everywhere. Shizune looked more shocked than Tsunade.

"Shizune you realize that the last stack of papers you just put on here just broke my desk right?" Shizune nodded dumbly while gazing at all of the fluttering papers. "Are you trying to assassinate me Shizune? Cause if you are paperwork is a cruel and sick way of doing it!"

Sakura decided to clear her throat to announce her presence. Tsunade shocked Sakura by crossing the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Lets talk on the roof." Sakura nodded and followed her teacher to the roof. Sakura was still puzzled by the summons. It was obvious that this wasn't a mission so that could only mean it was a request that was personal in nature. They finally reached the roof and Tsunade began to pace while thinking of what to say.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" Sakura was slightly concerned about her teacher but Tsunade replied without thinking.

"Its about Naruto." Right away Tsunade knew she had to keep talking when Sakura's expression became fillex with concern. "He is coming home in a few days. He is also bringing some people that...well...I don't know what to think about it. You try to figure it out." Tsunade huffed as she dug into her pocket and shoved a letter into Sakura's waiting hands. She skimmed over it and her breath caught in her throat.

He was coming home.

* * *

Dear Sakura-chan

I'm so very sorry that I haven't responded to your letters. I have made friends with a group of former enemies so I've been training with them. One even has the Rinnegan like me! The group's name is the Akatsuki. They were former Bijuu hunters and one still is. However he left when they agreed to come with me. Anyways I'm on my way back as I write this so expect me soon.

Love

Naruto, the new Rikudo Snnin (that's what they call me. It's so awesome dattebayo!)

* * *

AN: Yes this was an incredibly short chapter but that is exactly how I wanted it. I'm using this chapter to answer some of your questions and to fill in plot holes that I discovered while doing a read through. Your concern about Tsunade was well founded Narusaku but believe me when I say that I did have a plan. Also my question from last chapter still stands. I will give you my answer with the next chapter. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	8. I'm Home

My answer: Shadow Clone Jutsu. Who wouldn't want to be able to make clones of themselves? They could do my homework, chores, and anything else and I would receive the benefits. That would be kick ass!

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: All I can say is that you will have to wait to find out.**

**Enlace: Oh you have no idea!**

**NaruSaku1995: Thank you.**

**RINNESHARINGAN: You will see more background between Naruto and the Akatsuki in chapters to come.**

**Jotunn: Sorry to say that this isn't the usual pace. School has yet to be vicious with the homework so I've been able to upload like this. However, as long as my luck holds out is as long as I'll try to keep this updating schedule.**

**WajkoWajko: Thanks. Also I know about your story. I've been reading it. I'm curious to see what challenges could possibly arise for those three.**

**joe: Thank you.**

**Nanai: Maybe, maybe not. If I can think of a good one that's semi original then I might incorporate it.**

**Guest: Your wait is over.**

**KIDLOCO: Well you should enjoy future chapters then. Also I must inform you that I only write Naruto with Sakura. I will write side pairings but Naruto is always going with Sakura.**

Holy damn! That was a lot of responses! It's awesome to see the support. Thank you all!

* * *

It has been three days since Naruto sent that letter. It now marks the third day that Sakura was found waiting near the gate, anxious for her...well her boyfriend, to come home. This behavior was once considered normal for the pinkette but ever since she began training under Tsunade she had developed into a strong and confident shinobi. Many people would heartily agree with the strong part of that statement. So, considering who she has become, this behaviour was looked upon as quite strange for the girl.

"Hey Sakura. Still waiting?" She turned to the sound of Izuma's voice. He looked at her with the tiniest of traces of sorrow. He was sad that the girl kept waiting after her shift at the hospital was over. She was waiting for someone that could show up anywhere between now and next month. Still he tried his best to keep her entertained. His partner was still in therapy from his injuries. That run in with Sasuke had nearly cost them their lives.

"Yeah. I know that he will be back soon. I don't know why I do but that doesn't change the fact that I do. How about you? How are you and Kotetsu doing?" Sakura remembered how badly wounded those two had been. After she was patched up those two had been rushed in for emergency treatment.

"I'm a lot better thanks to you. I still can't thank you enough for helping me when those complications arose. As for Kotetsu, he has definitely seen better days but he is a lot better than he was right after that Chidori was rammed through his stomach. Hopefully he'll be out of therapy soon." Izuma didn't notice he was rubbing his arm where the bone had been snapped. He still felt a shiver run down his spine when memories of the bone jutting out of his skin would pop into his mind. The boy had been ruthlessly efficient.

"Well that's good to hear." Sakura continued talking and was too absorbed in the conversation to notice the group of people coming into view. It wasn't until Izuma suddenly smiled and pointed behind that she turned towards the gate. In the distance she seen several figures all lead by two people. As the group came into view Sakura smiled at the sight of the wild, untamed blonde hair and the spikey white hair that the two people sported.

"Naruto!"

* * *

"Seriously how far away is this place?!"

"Deidera if you don't shut up I'm going to Shinra Tensei your ass back to Iwa!" Naruto had just about enough of Deidera's bitching and moaning which had started back at the border of the Fire Country. He was very happy that they had all joined his cause but even his patience has a breaking point which Deidera was fast approaching.

"Whatever." The other blonde shrugged and continued walking. Nagato sighed at Deidera's actions. He had long become used to this kind of behaviour from the explosives expert. He went back to thinking about his decision to join his long lost cousin in achieving his goals. Their goals were somewhat the same: collect Bijuu chakra. However Naruto wanted the Bijuu to volunteer and he only took a fourth of the Bijuu's chakra. He had originally joined to trick the blonde and extract the Kyuubi but over time his plan crumbled as the young man gave him no opportunities to carry out his plan. He was also surprised at how successful his method was working so far. They had been able to collect chakra from the Hachibi, the Rokubi, the Nibi, and the Sanbi otherwise known as Gyuki, Saiken, Matatabi, and Isobu. He also had already obtained some of Shukaku's chakra. Once inside the statue, Naruto let the clone of the Bijuu grow out of the chakra that they had. The plan was so simple, obviously created with little thought or planning, yet the perfect person needed to pull it off was leading the effort.

"Thank god we're finally there!" Deidera's outburst jogged Nagato from his thoughts and he looked up to see the walls of Konoha looming ahead. He was relieved to see the end of their travels was in sight.

Naruto had seen two people by the gate but from this distance he couldn't make them out. One was standing and was clearly talking to the one that was seated. He could only assume that the seated one was either Izuma or Kotetsu but he couldn't make out what they looked like yet. The standing one was clearly a female if the long legs were any kind of a give away. Once they got closer he seen the sitting one point at his group. He could finally tell that it was Izuma yet the other person had their head done so he couldn't guess who she was based on her hair color. As soon as Izuma pointed the girl's head snapped up and a massive grin spread across Naruto's face. Pink hair.

They were close enough now where Naruto could see the joy filled smile on her face and his grin grew into a full blown smile. He picked up his pace as he approached the gate and was now in a brisk walk. He was within ten yards of the gate when Sakura ran out and caught him in a hug. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as he could. Naruto was now a head taller than Sakura and was much more muscular than he was when he left. He still sported that lean figure but his muscles were very clearly defined and Sakura could feel them ripple underneath his robes. The boy sported the same clothes he did in the Chunin Exams. Sakura remembered how Naruto explained that his clothing and weapons were made to grow for the user as they grew. The magatama on his chest were still visible for all to see and he now sported two tattoos, one on each wrist, that Sakura instantly recognized as sealing kanji. She also noticed that Naruto now kept his eyes "on" and didn't even bother to try to hide them.

Naruto cut her observations short when he bent down slightly and captured her lips with his own. She melted against his body and returned the kiss with all of the built up emotions from over the years.

"Well Naruto how kind to introduce us before you go off and make out with your girlfriend." Kisame said with his shark like grin that was almost always on the man's face.

"Yeah. Why don't you stop tongue fucking your girlfriend long enough to give us some god damn introductions!" Hidan stated which transformed Naruto's embarrassed and blushing face into one of annoyance.

"Seriously Hidan shut the fuck up! There is a lady present!" Naruto yelled at the scythe wielding man.

"Hypocrite." Deidera masked his response quite unsuccessfully with a cough. Naruto glared at the group behind him. Most were grinning while a few looked fairly amused. One looked indifferent. He spotted Jiraiya scribbling notes in his damn "Research Notes".

"Sakura this is the Akatsuki. Akatsuki this is Sakura. There you go. Introduce yourselves later." Naruto picked Sakura up bridal style and disappeared, leaving the Akatsuki to be processed with Jiraiya's help.

* * *

"Naruto you need to see the Hokage first. Report in before you do anything else." Sakura was back on her own two feet and had her hands resting on her hips in annoyed stance. Naruto gave in but grumbled as they walked. He noticed the villagers mostly hated him still, that much was obvious by the glares he was all too used to. What surprised him was the approving looks he occasionally got. It puzzled him because he had never been on the receiving end of that kind of emotion when he interacted with the villagers.

They finally reached the steps that lead up to the Hokage's office when he noticed the vaguely familiar face carved into the Hokage Monument to signify the Fifth Hokage. He was still racking his brain to think of where he knew that face from when he threw open the office door. He immediately recognized the woman behind the desk.

"You!" Naruto pointed at her in shock which was met by a look of amusement. "You're Tsunade?! I always called you baa-chan!" The tick mark on her forehead showed annoyance at the nickname but she just ignored it.

"Yes, gaki. I am Tsunade Senju." The familiarity between the two threw Sakura off.

"Wait you two know each other?!" The pink haired kunoichi was clearly shocked.

"Yeah. To make a long story short, she healed me after some training went wrong and Ero-Sennin was off doing his 'research'." Naruto returned to his normal attitude and spoke like he knew Tsunade all of his life. "Well baa-chan I have plans so I thought I would stop by and check in. See ya!" Naruto grabbed Sakura again and disappeared in another cloud of smoke.

'I guess I can put off his test for a day.'

"Kakashi you're dismissed."

* * *

After Naruto had stopped by Ichirakus for an ungodly amount of ramen, Sakura found herself following Naruto to the top of the Fourth Hokage's head. He took a deep breath and looked out over the village from his favorite childhood spot.

"I'm home everybody." He spoke quietly, almost to quiet for Sakura to hear. If she wasn't next to him she would've missed his words. After a few minutes spent in silence Naruto turned his smile on Sakura.

"I've missed you so much Sakura-chan. It was hard being out there without you." His hand encased her own as he spoke. His words were filled with the love that he had been forced to contain for so long. Sakura smiled and hugged the blonde while she spoke.

"I thought of you every day, Naruto. I missed you but the letters helped. But when they stopped coming I was terrified that something happened to you!" Sakura felt the pain and uncertainty she had felt as the memories came back to her. Like a floodgate had opened, everything came pouring out.

"And when Sasuke left he...he stabbed me in my own bed. The look in his eyes...so cold...cold and filled with hatred. But...that wasn't the worse part. When I screamed my parents came in and...he...he..." The tears that were already running only intensified. "He cut them down! Right in front of me! He killed them like they were animals!" Sakura fell silent and let her tears speak her pain for her. Naruto lowered both of them until they were sitting on the rocky head underneath them. He let her cry and ran a comforting hand up and down her shaking back. They sat like that for the longest time, even after her tears dried up.

As Naruto sat and comforted the love of his life he felt like he was ready to find and kill Sasuke at that very second. When she told him how he killed her parents his eyes had flashed a blood red before returning to the calming blue. The night was growing late and Naruto realized it was time to go home. He picked up Sakura once again and carried her back to his place. He had just began to turn the handle when she spoke again.

"Oh and Naruto-" The door opened and he stepped in before he noticed that his apartment was being lived in. "I uh...I kinda moved in. My home held nothing but pain and sorrow so I moved somewhere that reminded me of happy memories." She smiled sheepishly as Naruto processed what she said.

'Sakura-chan is living with me now?!" He turned towards her and, once he seen her smile, he nodded as all of his questions melted away.

Sakura helped Naruto unpack and he quickly resettled into his, correction their, apartment. They were soon getting ready for bed when Naruto grabbed a spare pillow and blanket and began to head for the door.

"Where are you going?" Sakura's tired voice made him turn around.

"Well I thought that since you have the bed that I would be taking the couch." Naruto watched as she chuckled quietly before she scooted against the wall and patted the bed next to her.

"No silly. This is your room and your bed. You can sleep here with me." Naruto was shocked for a moment as he let the words sink in. A smile soon crossed his lips and he put the blanket and pillow back before he climbed into bed and pulled the covers over both of them. She turned her back to him and began to fall asleep. Feeling brave, Naruto turned towards her and put his arm over her. He was shocked once again when Sakura closed the distance and snuggled into his chest before sleep claimed her. Happy at these turn of events, Naruto smiled and fell asleep with the love of his life in his arms.

"I'm home."

* * *

AN: There you have it. Naruto is home and all is good. Or is it? You'll have to wait and find out! Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!

I have decided to also do a a question every few chapters.

Question from the Author: If you could be one character in Naruto, who would it be and why?


	9. When Guards Come Down

**Review Responses:**

**RINNESHARINGAN: Thank you.**

**Mr. Motivator: Well hopefully you like what I plan for our friends in the Akatsuki.**

**Jotunn: Thanks and it's good to hear that you understand lol. Homework: the bane of FF authors at some point in time.**

**Narusaku: Well I do dabble in mind reading lol. Jk. But I'm glad I was able to clear up more confusion and plot holes.**

**Yaminoryu Nogadian: Thank you!**

**Guest: I'm going to assume that is a good thing lol.**

**Nanai: Well you will just have to find out haha!**

**kidloco: Damn that is a LONG review! I'm glad you are enjoying this story and hopefully you continue to enjoy it!**

**Guest(2): If only my mind worked so simply lol.**

-WARNING: THIS CHAPTER WILL CONTAIN SOME ADULT CONTENT-

* * *

Sakura awoke to something warm around her waist and she felt heat radiating out of the object her back was pressed against. Not the "sweating on a hot summer day" kind of heat but a comforting heat that seemed to make her want to delve closer to the source. She sighed happily and made an effort to get closer to the heat only to hear a soft chuckle behind her. Memories of last night came flooding back just as she was getting ready to punch the chuckling man behind her.

"Looks like somebody is finally awake." His slight laughter and speaking to her all made his chest rumble and she relaxed even further against it.

"Nope. You're imagining things. Now go back to sleep." Sakura closed her eyes as she mumbled her tired thoughts to Naruto before her eyes closed again. Naruto looked at the alarm and sighed. 6:00. He remembered Kakashi waking him up earlier that morning saying that Tsunade wanted to see them by noon at the latest. They still had six hours of anything before the meeting. Shrugging, Naruto closed his own eyes once again and pulled Sakura close to him before falling asleep again.

* * *

-Naruto's Dream-

"Daddy, mommy won't let me go the park without you or my big brother but he's too busy. Can you take me? Please." The six year old girl looked at Naruto with her best puppy dog eyes. Her pink hair flowed down to just below her shoulders and her emerald eyes pratically begged him to agree. She was the spitting image of her mother.

"Ok Haruko. Lets go." He took his daughters small hand in his own larger palm and began to walk towards the park. The little girl skipped while humming a little tune to herself. Naruto stared at his own face up on the Hokage Monument and a feeling of pride washed over him. He got the woman of his dreams, he achieved his goal of becoming the Hokage, and he finally brought peace to the shinobi world.

* * *

Naruto sighed contently in his sleep and unconsciously pulled his girlfriend's sleeping form closer.

* * *

-Sakura's Dream-

She was pinned to the bed with him on top of her and his arms on either side to form a primitive "cage" that held her in the one spot. His blue eyes were absolutely enchanting to her and she felt herself being lost in their depths. She gladly surrendered control over to the blonde haired man above her as he kissed her passionately. The lust in each kiss was like an aphrodisiac to Sakura and she gladly returned his kisses with equal intensity. They broke the kiss only so he could lift her shirt over and off her shoulders before they once again lip locked in a battle for dominance. His rough hand groped her through her lacy bra and the sensations caused by his hand caused her to moan into the next kiss. Still unsatisfied, he practically ripped her bra off and tossed the scraps across the room before he leaned back to take in the sight he had longed to see. Sakura squirmed as the unsatisfied need continued to build up in the pit of her stomach.

"Naruto please..." She practically shouted out in pleasure when his mouth replaced his hand in the task of exploring her breasts. While his mouth was busy he continued to run his hands all along Sakura's body in an attempt to memorize every square inch of her perfect body. When his hands were finished exploring her upper body he began to run his hands up her legs in a sweet and torturous manner. He moved his mouth over to give the twin the attention it deserved as his hands-

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Sakura shot over Naruto's body and smashed the alarm clock along with the table it was resting on. She let out a frustrated sigh as her dreams were interrupted yet again by the alarm. She noticed Naruto was up to and her face flushed at the memory of what he was doing to her in her dreams came flashing to the front of her mind. Naruto sat up and stretched, unknowingly giving Sakura a damn good show.

'Oh yeah. He has definitely grown up. You would never see that kind of build on a boy that's for sure.'

'Shannaro!' Sakura grinned at her inner self's approval and went back to staring at her boyfriend's body. Once he stood up she sported a full on blush. Naruto stood and walked towards the closet in only his boxers. She was barely hanging on to her self control after that dream and Naruto parading his perfect body around wasn't helping one bit. She ran her gaze up and down his toned body and felt that control rapidly slipping away.

"See something you like?" Her head snapped up and she noticed the smug smile on his face. He slowly and deliberately pulled his robes closed while making as much of a show as he could out of it.

"Naruto Uzumaki you are nothing but a big tease." Sakura pouted as she crossed her arms in mock anger. She suddenly felt a hot breath on the back of her neck that caused a pleasant shiver to run through her body.

"Oh I beg to differ. I will ALWAYS deliver." He leaned even closer and whispered in her ear. "No matter what the situation is." Then as fast as the warm tingle had appeared it vanished just as fast. Sakura let out a shaky sigh and tried to calm her overloaded nerves. Every part of her was hyper aware of the blonde in the bathroom. The sound of the shower starting brought more dirty images to her mind. She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it with the hopes of venting some of the sexual frustration as anger. It seemed to work to. She felt much better as she pulled the pillow away. That new found calmness vanished when she felt cold steel on her throat.

"Do exactly as I say."

* * *

Naruto walked out of the bathroom and glanced over at the empty bed. He heard a noise in the kitchen and went to see if Sakura was cooking. He came into his the kitchen and his thoughts were confirmed at the sight of Sakura bustling around the small kitchen with multiple cooking utensils in hand. Something seemed off though. She looked concerned and a little frightened.

"Hey Sakura is everything all right?" He watched her lift her head with a smile that was quickly replaced by one of panic as her eyes widened at something behind him. He felt something pierce the flesh on his back and continue its destructive path until it punch its way out of his chest. Naruto looked down to see the top part of a sword protruding from his chest. Sakura's scream made him slowly lift his head to find her covered in his blood. He wanted to comfort her but all the he could do was gurgle and cough up his own blood.

"You were always the dobe Naruto. Now I'm going to make sure you lose evrything." The blade was ripped from his chest and a foot kicked his heavy and limp body into his table causing it to break. He watched through dimming eyes as Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the throat and lift her so she was staring into his now changed Sharingan. She was looking directly at the Mangekyou Sharingan. A few seconds later she broke out into a heavy sweat and Sasuke tossed her into the wall like a piece of trash.

"Sa..su..ke.." The blonde was weak but he forced the name out. Said man flipped Naruto over with his foot and raised his foot.

"Just die you fucking demon."

The foot came down hard on his face and the blonde blacked out.

Sasuke breathed in a nice deep breath as he felt the bonds he had to these two snap. Two down, one to go.

He pulled up a chair and waited for the inevitable arrival of the last person on his list.

* * *

"Naruto! Sakura! Are you in there?" Kakashi opened the front door and walked in casually. "I actually beat you guys to the Hokage's office. What's up with that?" He scanned the apartment until he noticed a foot just barely visible on the kitchen floor. He remained calm but pulled his headband up to activate his Sharingan. He reached the kitchen door and entered the room as he quickly ducked. Sakura was huddled in a corner whispering in to herself incoherently as she stared at Naruto's still body. Kakashi was about to react when he noticed a presence behind him but didn't have time as a lightning covered hand tore through his shoulder, destroying a lung in the process.

"Kinda ironic huh? You taught me the move that is killing you." The hand was pulled from Kakashi's body and the silver haired Jounin collapsed to the floor and remained still. The Uchiha turned his hateful eyes towards Sakura and spoke.

"Go and tell what has happened here before my mercy runs out and you join them." Sasuke then disappeared in a burst of lightning leaving the emotionally broken Sakura to do her job.

* * *

AN: Ok so this chapter was meant to show you just how dark Sasuke is in this story. Not much else to say. Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	10. The Promise

**Review Responses:**

**Jotunn: Ahh the wonders of medical ninjutsu!**

**McAwzome: Now, now McAwzome. You must be patient. Give it a few more chapters.**

**Nanai: Usually I have a redeemed Sasuke in my stories so I thought I would mix it up.**

**knowin72: Yeah. Last chapter will probably be one of the darkest chapters in the whole story.**

**Narusaku: Yes I know. I usually hate writing dark chapters so doing that to everyone's favorite pink haired kunoichi really sucked!**

**Drums4life: Bring it! I'm no stranger to hate. My first story wasn't the greatest...at all. Although I am proud of the OCs I created in that story. Also due to the lack of profane names I reached the conclusion that you do indeed know better lol. With the dreams I was like "hey they're gonna be crying soon so why not give em some laughs first."**

Message from the Author: Ok so I doubt you guys want to read about a comatose Naruto so I'm just gonna go ahead and throw a time skip in. Don't worry, Kakashi's fate will be revealed.

* * *

Sakura quickly caught Naruto as he lost his footing and stumbled. She heard him curse his body for not responding correctly and gently put more weight onto Sakura's capable shoulders. Naruto had just been released from the hospital after a two week stay in what he called a "boring hell hole more torturous than Ibiki on his good days!" He was very adamant about his boredom after he woke up on his third day in the room. It only took two more days for Sakura's elation to turn into general annoyance. The rest was history. But despite the massive temptations, she never hit him once...yet. Forever gave her plenty of time to change that.

They were now stumbling their way back to the apartment with Naruto cursing his dysfunctional limbs. Naruto felt embarrassed that he, the reincarnation of the Rikudo Sennin, was being supported by his girlfriend back to his own house because he was stupid and dropped his guard for the few seconds that bastard needed to seriously hurt him. He mentally cursed himself for what seemed like the 100th time and shot out a hand to catch himself on a wall.

"Come on Naruto. We're almost home." Sakura's gentle encouragement helped him push off of the wall and stagger the rest of the way home. He threw open the door, limped his way to the bed, and collapsed in a heap.

"Sasuke I'm going to kill you for what you have done!" He clenched his hands tightly and thought about his sensei. Kakashi was in critical condition and needed a new lung. His former lung was to damaged by the Chidori and could no longer function correctly. Yet through it all Kakashi persevered. The one eyed Jounin refused to give up. Then there was Sakura. Whatever happened there had put her in a catatonic state until Naruto woke up. When his blue eyes fluttered open she surprised everyone by jumping up and hugging him to her chest. The poor nurses nearly had a heart attack when the motionless girl exploded into action. She had never explained what Sasuke showed her in the genjutsu but whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"Naruto."

The voice was faint but familiar. He didn't pay any attention to it as more rage was pumped into his system. Sasuke was quickly becoming a goal, a person Naruto wanted dead by his own hands.

"Naruto!"

The voice penetrated the cloud of hatred in his mind. The voice definitely belonged to a female. She sounded worried. Once again the red cloud closed over the gap to plunge him back into his poisonous thoughts of death and vengeance that could only be achieved through the spilling of the Uchiha's blood.

"Naruto please come back to me! Please I need you! NARUTO!"

The final cry pulled him from the depths of hatred and back into the light. The red left his eyes, both physically and proverbially, and he was greeted by the sight of a terrified Sakura. He noticed his nails were longer and his canines felt sharper and more elongated then usual. His hair was slightly longer and more unkempt and he would bet that if he looked into a mirror his eyes would be fading back to a calm blue from their previous blood red. All signs of the Kyuubi.

"Naruto?" He turned towards the timid voice and was met by the sight of Sakura's tear streaked face. He also didn't miss the cut on her arm. Claw inflicted cuts. The wave of nausea he felt from the knowledge made him almost vomit. He had hurt Sakura. He hurt the one person he has always loved. He hurt her even when he had always promised he never would. He stumbled backwards, eyes still locked on the gashes he had inflicted, never once did he see the look of relief in her eyes. He never heard her happily call out his name. His eyes were focused solely on the red gashes marring her otherwise perfect skin. Only when he didn't respond to her did Sakura follow his gaze to her arm.

"Naruto this is nothing. Hey look at me." Her voice forced him to drag his sorrow filled gaze up to her eyes. The tears in his almost broke Sakura's heart.

"I...I hurt you...I did that to you Sakura." The lack of the honorific at the end of her name hurt when it came from Naruto. It also told her how much pain he was feeling for what happened when he wasn't in control.

"Naruto you didn't hurt me. Whatever was just in control did. Not you Naruto." She gently stated. His eyes fell back onto her arm and she realized that as long as those gashes were still there, he wouldn't be able to think clearly. She lowered a healing hand onto the wounds and quickly sealed the cuts. The pain faded with the cuts until both were non-existent. When she removed her hand Naruto visibly relaxed.

"I'm so sorry Sakura!" His apology was silenced by her hand.

"Naruto if you apologize anymore I'm going to show you the other thing Tsunade-sama taught me. I get that your sorry but it wasn't your fault. Now what just happened?" Sakura's tone and posture did a complete 180 when she asked the question.

Naruto took a deep breath. He had always been trying to avoid this question, always dreading the inevitable day that someone would ask and he would be forced to answer. It seems that the day he feared had finally come. He exhaled slowly before he began.

"16 years ago the village was attacked by the Kyuubi. You know this. What you were never told was what actually happened." Sakura was about to voice her confusion but Naruto continued speaking and cut her off. "The Kyuubi was never killed. It was sealed away. However the only thing that could hold it and survive the chakra integration was a human child. I was born on the 10th of October."

* * *

Sasuke landed in the clearing and waited for his companion to show up. He began to think about his former teammates and although a smile crept onto his face, he felt that slight twinge of guilt in his chest. He quickly and ruthlessly crushed that feeling and mentally scolded himself for feeling such things to his useless ex-comrades. He was ordered to prove his loyalty by slaughtering at least two of his former teammates so he did. At least he thought so. He remembered that he twisted his sword slightly just before he plunged it into Naruto's back. That slight turn opened up the possibility that he may have missed the heart. He also could have hit Kakashi's heart but he went with a lung instead. Why?

His pondering was ended when the man he was waiting for appeared. The swirled mask made Sasuke slightly curious as to what lay beneath but he disregarded the feeling.

"It's done." Sasuke stated this with the coldest voice he could muster, not even noticing how his voice cracked ever so slightly when he spoke the words.

"Very good Sasuke. Now it's time we meet up with Orochimaru. It's about time your training began." The man turned around, the cloak with the red clouds shifted with the movement, and leapt away with Sasuke close behind.

* * *

"So...you're the Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi?"

The question was barely a whisper. No doubt she was trying to take it all in. Naruto seen this blank look on her face as she stared at him. His stomach was doing flips from the fear he was feeling. Any moment now she would side with the villagers and hate him. She would probably spit on him a few times to get "his taste out of her mouth" and then storm off leaving him alone for good. She might even request being switched to another team. His mind was racing and he could feel the cracks working their way through his heart so it would be easier for Sakura to shatter.

What happened was far from what he expected.

Naruto suddenly found a pair of arms wrapped around him and his shoulder was getting wet from the tears being shed. Sakura shook as she cried and Naruto's hands instantly found their way to her back, one rubbing her lower back while the other pulled her closer to him. Sakura cried for several minutes before the sobs died down into the occasional sniffle.

"Sakura-chan, why did you cry?" Naruto still rubbed her back gently but allowed his curiosity to be known.

"I cried because I remembered all of the times I was mean to you. All of the times I followed the adult's examples and all of the times you were kind to me regardless of my actions. I need to know why?" Sakura finally pulled away and stared into Naruto's eyes.

"Why was I so nice to you?" She nodded her head. "Well it's because I love you. I always have and I always will. We were kids and you didn't know why the adults did that but you knew it was for something that they thought was important so you followed their example. I never blamed you. I could never, ever blame the beautiful pink flower named Sakura." He smiled at the end and chuckled in his head at how cliche the end sounded. But it seemed to have the results he was looking for.

"Oh you baka! I love you Naruto." She pulled him back into her and they held each other close. "Arigato Naruto. You never gave up on me and all I can say is arigato. I will always love you." She whispered into his ear.

"No Sakura-chan. I should say arigato for giving me a chance. I will always be thankful that you did." Naruto closed his eyes and a few silent tears ran down his cheek. Revealing his secret brought them closer together instead of driving them apart like he feared. The mood was quickly ruined when the familiar scribbling sound began to sound from the window. Naruto felt anger and embarrassment build up and turned to see Jiraiya in the window, furiously writing in his "research" note pad.

"Don't mind me gaki. Just keep doing what you were doing and I'll have my next best seller!" Jiraiya grinned and kept his pencil ready, ignoring the stifling amount of killer intent that flooded the room all directed towards him.

"Ero-Sennin are you here for something?" Naruto felt his fingers twitching in rage at being interrupted.

"Oh yeah Tsunade just sent me to make sure you got home fine. Now if you don't mind-"

"Shinra Tensei!"

* * *

After Jiraiya's rude interruption was abruptly dealt with Naruto feel asleep with Sakura in his arms. Said pinkette awoke around 6 in the afternoon feeling more energized after the 4 hour nap. She went about the house and began to tidy up the mess made by Sasuke's attack. The broken chairs and table were easy to take care of. After disposing of the fragmented wood she cleaned up the rest until only one thing was left: the blood. There were two distinct pools of blood on the floor. The one where the table used to be was her boyfriend's while the other was her sensei's. She stared at both for a long time until something clicked. She realized several things about the attack that she had missed in her state before. First, Sasuke twisted the blade before he stabbed Naruto which caused it to barely miss his heart. That was the only reason he lived. Second, Sasuke could have easily killed Kakashi but instead he hit him in the lung. Finally there is the fact that she is still alive. He had her by the throat. A quick twist of the hand and her neck would have snapped like a twig. Instead he placed her under a genjutsu and tossed her aside. She finished cleaning the blood when she reached a conclusion. With impeccable timing, Naruto walked into the kitchen just as she finished putting everything away.

"Hey Naruto I want you to promise me something." She began to get nervous at what his reaction might be.

"What is that Sakura-chan?" He turned a somewhat sleep clouded eye in her direction.

'Here goes nothing.'

"I want you to promise that you will bring Sasuke home." The silence that followed threw Sakura off. She was expecting him to be really loud. Not deathly silent.

"Then you noticed it too? How he could have killed us all but didn't. You realize just like me that the old Sasuke is still there." She nodded her head slowly, still prepared for an outburst.

"I promise Sakura-chan! I promise it on my life!"

* * *

AN: I am alive! Sorry I haven't updated recently. I had the ACTs this past weekend and was busy with preparing for a few tests. Throw on the fact that our one and only renter moved out and you have a nice and hectic few days. But don't worry, I'm good now. Well...maybe. Anyways, this chapter was a bitch to write thanks to writer's block slapping me in the face up until tonight. While I'm at it I might write a bonus chapter tonight. Also I'm sorry if I missed anyone's review, I hope the aforementioned reasons explain why. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	11. Genins and Growing Up

**Review Responses:**

**Narusaku: I never said Sasuke wouldn't get a few good breakdowns did I? Rejoice in the fact that, quoting from Pain/Pein "he shall know pain!" So drag yourself out of your corner my friend and enjoy this pretty nice chapter!**

**Guest: Their troubles are only beginning but yes, right now everyone is fine and dandy lol.**

* * *

Naruto grumbled as he walked towards the Hokage's office. He had received a letter from Tsunade to report immediately for an assignment of the "highest honor at your young age" as the letter said. He had this strange, foreboding, feeling with a sneaking suspicion about what it may be. He shot a quick glance towards Sakura and tried to calculate the odds of escaping her watchful eye and, as he recently found out the other day, her powerful fists. She had been healing him daily ever since he left the hospital 4 days ago and he felt almost normal again. He had the occasional pain but even that was disappearing as the Kyuubi's healing worked together with Sakura's to make him heal at an ungodly fast rate. Kakashi had also awoken today and the couple had been on their way to see him before the messenger bird damn near dive bombed Naruto's head.

He realized that his odds were low after thinking for a few minutes. She had gotten so much faster and more nimble under Tsunade's tutelage along with her monstrous strength. Yeah Naruto knew he was stuck on this trip, like it or not.

"Oh Naruto you had better not try to run. I would hate to be forced to break your legs and drag you there. Then I would just have to heal your legs and that's a big waste of time." Her way to innocent voice ended as the threat began. He gulped and nodded his head vigorously so she knew he understood. When her focus returned to her thoughts Naruto allowed himself to start grumbling again. He muttered and cursed under his breath until they finally reached Tsunade's office. The shout to enter came before they could even knock.

"Ah Naruto there you are. I trust the bird delivered the message in the best way possible." She smirked when Naruto childishly crossed his arms and pouted.

"What do you want Baa-chan? We were going to see Kakashi before your bird tried to assassinate me." Naruto unfolded his arms when he noticed Tsunade go into "Hokage Mode". She shifted through several stacks of paper before she pulled out one and held it triumphantly before she handed it to Naruto who quickly read over it. The paper confirmed his earlier suspicions.

"Is this for real?" Naruto glanced up at Tsunade and she nodded.

"Yes Naruto. You have now been officially promoted to the rank of Jounin for your aid in gathering several powerful new allies for Konoha in the form of the Akatsuki. For your first duty as a Jounin I am assigning you a Genin team with Sakura as your second in command. This will help you, Sakura, in building up leadership skills and Naruto this will help reinforce patience. Your team will meet you at the Academy tomorrow at 12. Try to be on time." Sakura bowed and Naruto just sported his silly grin.

"Hai!"

"Dismissed."

* * *

"Seriously where is our sensei?!" The voice belonged to a disgruntled genin with red hair and purple eyes. His hair was spiked and wild looking. Not quite like Naruto's but wilder than Kakashi's. His purple eyes were practically screaming boredom and traces of a growing anger could be found if you looked hard enough. The boy's attire was rather simple, a black short sleeved muscle shirt and a pair of black shorts. He always got picked on for his obsession with the color black but that was because no one understood. Plain and simple. The red head was surprisingly muscular and easily filled out the muscle shirt.

"Shut up Rykuga. He'll get here when he gets here." The girl leaned back in her chair allowing her shoulder blade length brown hair drap down behind the chair. Her unusual golden eyes conveyed extreme laziness along with her posture. Her dark blue tank top framed her surprisingly shapely body and announced the fact that she was more "advanced" than other girls her age. Her small and sleek frame must have only reached about the same height as Naruto when he was younger (and before he was given the abilities of the Rikudo Sennin). The white shorts finished the picture of laziness to the point where even Shikamaru would be impressed.

"I'm going with Mikasu on this one." The final boy had sky blue hair with blue eyes. He looked calm and composed but had a slightly aggressive air hanging around him. His green shirt held a black triangle with an eye in the center on the back and his black pants completed the outfit. He sat forward in his chair and glared at the door as if he was willing his sensei into the room.

"Thanks alot Shiro." Rykuga sulked over to a far desk and sat down only to fall over when the door was thrown open. The robed man walked in and the two things they noticed right away were the whiskers and his eyes. Before they could say anything a the blonde stepped aside so a pink haired girl could walk in beside him.

"Get to the roof you three." The blonde and pinkette disappeared before a single sound could cross their lips.

* * *

"How about you tell us a few things about yourself. We'll start." Naruto looked to Sakura and she smiled and nodded.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are my boyfriend, medical ninjutsu, reading, and smashing perverts into a fine paste. My dislikes are how much ramen my boyfriend can eat, perverts, and people who hate others because they don't understand them. My goals are to get married to my wonderful boyfriend and surpass my teacher, Tsunade-sama, in medical ninjutsu." She smiled at Naruto who began his introduction.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are my beautiful girlfriend, eating at Ichiraku's Ramen, having a full Gama-chan, and my friends. My dislikes are missing ninja who left for no reason other then money or petty arguments, when Sakura-chan is about to smash my face in, and hatred. My goals are to become the best Hokage ever, end the cycle of hatred in the shinobi world, and marry my girlfriend. Ok now you go." Naruto pointed at Rykuga who sighed.

"My name is Rykuga Azu. My likes are training, eating, and girls, definitely girls. My dislikes are egotistical bastards, traitors, and snakes. My goals are to marry a nice girl and have a family along with maybe joining the ANBU." Rykuga relaxed and looked at the girl.

"My name is Mikasu Senju. My likes are reading, occasional training, and sleeping. My dislikes are intense labor, repetitive tasks, and alarm clocks. My goals are to master my kekkai genkai and to beat Shikamaru Nara in shogi or chess." The girl promptly closed her eyes and laid down.

"My name is Nabitora Shiro, most people use my names interchangeably. My likes are intense training, studying doujutsu, and the rest is personal. My dislikes are anyone trying to kill me. My goal is to achieve a new doujutsu to pass down through my family."

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other and knew that this was going to be an interesting team.

"Ok your first test is tomorrow. Eat good and rest up." With that Naruto and Sakura vanished leaving the genin to their own devices.

* * *

Sakura fell to the floor laughing, pulling Naruto and his tickling fingers with her. It all started with a little smudge of cake batter on his cheek which escalated into the kitchen sink hose being sprayed everywhere and now Sakura found herself on the floor, gasping for breath, and begging the for the onslaught of tickling fingers to stop. Naruto laughed hard as Sakura was finally able to get a hand on his and tried to pull it away. Unfortunately for her, the laughing reduced her strength to nothing and he was in complete control.

"Oh god Naruto please-please stop!" She stuttered when she tried to suppress another bout of giggles but a slight adjustment of his hand brought them on in full force. Then she felt the boots come off. "Don't you dare!"

His mischievous grin said it all. Sakura began her efforts to escape anew as Naruto slowly trailed his fingers down her leg. He let his hand hover over her foot for a brief second before he touched it...and was sent crashing through his bedroom wall into the living room.

"Oh god Naruto are you ok?! I warned you my feet are really ticklish!" Sakura ran over to the dazed Naruto up and shook his head slightly.

"My bad Sakura-chan. I just got a little carried away hehe." Knowing that he was fine Sakura smiled and began to stand before Naruto pulled her back into him causing her to land and knock him over. They quickly realized what position they were now in and blushed slightly, the pink just dusting their cheeks. Sakura was straddling Naruto dangerously close to the area that made Naruto a man. The mood changed instantly.

-ADULT CONTENT COMING UP-

Sakura's jaded orbs became clouded with desire as all of "those dreams" came flooding back to her memory. Now she was curious to find out if Naruto was as skilled as he was in her dreams. He must have had the same idea because her eyes locked with his and she almost gasped at the amount of lust poured into his eyes all for her. His lips shot up to capture hers in a passionate kiss. She felt his tongue as it began to battle for dominance against hers. She moaned into the kiss from the sheer intensity and suddenly felt weighed down.

'Its got to be these damn clothes!' Sakura thought. Naruto must have felt the same because his hands grasped the bottom of her shirt and he broke the kiss to look at her for permission. She bit her lower lip, already missing the feel of his lips on hers, and nodded. Naruto swiftly pulled the shirt over her head and threw it. It was then that he noticed the wrapping around Sakura's chest in place of a bra.

"Bindings?"

She nodded and smiled an innocent and bashful smile. Naruto growled and stood up, flipping her onto his shoulder in the process. She giggled as he made his way to their bed where he laid her down like a porcelain doll. She smiled at the thoughtful action. Naruto suddenly pulled her lips back against his and they remained locked until Naruto worked a finger under the bindings. She moaned and Naruto took that as his go ahead. He tore the bindings off and threw the shreds into another part of the room. He took the time to run a hungry gaze down her now exposed chest. He couldn't do enough to display his approval and decided to do it using the hands on method like he always did.

As soon as his hand made contact with her sensitive flesh Sakura gasped and arched her back into the pleasurable sensations. Emboldened by her actions, Naruto quickly replaced his hand with his mouth. The incredible feelings pushed her to the brink of insanity and she wanted to get that final push into the blissful abyss that waited just beyond her grap. Naruto repeated his actions on her other breast while a free hand came up to message her now free breast and occasionally tweak her nipple to elict a sharp gasp from her. During this time his other hand had already pulled off the skirt. All she had left were her panties and skin tight shorts. Her hands suddenly stopped his and he pulled his head back to look at her curiously.

"Am I doing something wrong? You know I'm a virgin and-"

"No that's not it at all. I think it's only fair if you get undressed too." She smirked as his faintly pink cheeks began to look like her hair. Regardles, Naruto stood up and pulled the robe off so he was standing in nothing but his boxers. Sakura didn't move and Naruto finally realized that he was supposed to strip completely. Blushing furiously, Naruto slowly grabbed the top of his boxers and glanced at her. She nodded and he took a deep breath before he pulled his last article of clothing off of his ankles. He stood up straight and Sakura's eyes widened. She never would have guessed he was so well endowed.

His nervous look had quickly been replaced by a smirk when Sakura was unable to pull her gaze away from his manhood. "Your turn." His voice snapped her out of it and it was now her turn to blush. He sat down on the bed and Sakura turned away before she began to try and slid the skin tight clothing down. Just to tease the boy, she wiggled her butt at him to "help" get her shorts down. His growl made her smirk knowing she achieved the desired results. Her shorts soon joined the growing number of clothing on the floor and she quickly dropped her panties too before she could chicken out. Naruto let out a deep growl out the sight of her naked ass in his face. She toom in a deep breath and turned around. Naruto took one look and pulled her straight underneath him. He lowered his head down while trailing kisses the whole way until he reached her core. The heat could be felt radiating from it. He took a finger and began to stroke her which gave him the satisfaction of watching her back arch and she began to pant softly from the building tension. He rubbed his thumb across a bundle of nerves and the amazing sensations finally pushed her over the edge.

"Oh my god Naruto!"

He quickly silenced her with a kiss. He didn't need everyone to hear them as they made love for the first time although he was feeling pretty smug about the fact that he made her shout his name. She finally collapsed back onto the bed covered by a thin sheet of sweat. Her smouldering eyes locked with his. He slowly lowered himself between her parted legs and placed himself at her entrance.

"Ready?" He looked into her eyes and she nodded. He slowly began to push into her. The sensations were almost overwhelming and Naruto groaned with pleasure. He came to a barrier and looked into her eyes once again. "We can still stop if you want to." Truthfully, Naruto didn't want to stop. The thought only crossed his mind for her sake. She bit her lower lip and said one word: "go."

He nodded and pushed forward feeling the barrier break from the pressure. She grabbed onto the bedsheets as the brief moment of pain was washed away by a pleasure neither knew existed. He began to set a rhythm that Sakura soon joined. She met him thrust for thrust as the two began to focus on relieving the fiery tension building up inside of them. The rhythm began to speed up until the room was filled with the sounds of grunts and moans accompanied by the ever present sound of skin slapping against skin. Naruto opened her legs up wider and thrust deeper than before. He rubbed up against the cluster of nerves and that sent Sakura over the edge.

"Naruto!"

She arched her back as her walls clamped down onto him, constantly convulsing as wave after pleasurable wave tore through her body. Her orgasm sent Naruto over the edge with her.

"Oh god Sakura I'm-"

He unloaded inside her, his hot seed being shot deep inside her. Her muscles continued drawing out the orgasm by "milking" him for every last drop. He finally collapsed on top of her, panting hard, and they both smiled. Making sure he remained inside of her, Naruto shifted them so they were spooning.

"You know you can now right?" Sakura giggled.

"Why would I want to leave this paradise?" Naruto whispered into her ear. She smiled at his words and snuggled into his warm body. There they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

AN: Ok so I introduced Naruto's genin team and had a lemon that didn't get interrupted or followed by near death! I'd say that's a pretty good chapter. Next chapter will be the test and of course the morning after! Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	12. The Test

**Review Responses:**

**Drums4life: Yeah I didn't originally plan for Naruto to have a team but a spur of the moment thought seems to have found a place in my story lol.**

**kidloco: You really enjoy your lemons don't you?**

**Guest: I am still assuming that supert is good so thank you!**

**McAwzome: No. Just no lol.**

**god of all: Thank you very much. Please continue to enjoy.**

* * *

"4 in the morning my ass!" Rykuga paced back and forth in front of the three posts that two of the three present were using as back rests. Unlike their teammate, Nabitora and Mikasu didn't have an unreal amount of energy to waste so they found themselves dozing off at the base of two of the posts. The pacing continued and in Nabitora's exhausted state it was like each blade of grass was a window being shattered as they were flattened by the read head's feet. The noise made Nabitora grit his teeth as the anger and annoyance finally reached the boiling point.

"Why must you?! Just sit down and be fucking patient like the rest of us!" The shout initiated a staredown between the two. Both were irritated but one was due to exhaustion while the other was from being shouted at.

"No. I'm tired of waiting patiently while our sensei is two hours late! Both of them!" The two began to argue back and forth while Mikasu slept soundly, easily ignoring the annoying background noise.

* * *

Morning. The start of a new day that provides new opportunities. It would be a fantastic part of the day except it had one flaw. Just a tiny problem. With the morning came that troublesome thing called sunlight. The very same thing that was beating on Naruto's closed eyelids, demanding that the barriers had to be removed from the blue orbs beneath. He groaned and shifted his head so the hair his chin had been resting on was now blocking the sunlight.

'Ah yes much bett...wait a second...hair? Soft hair at that.' Naruto began his morning mental routine of sweeping the mental cobwebs from his mind trying to think of who's hair was now in his eyes without doing the strenuous task of lifting his eyelids.

'Ok lets see here. Yesterday I remember going to see baa-chan and received a promotion to Jonin rank along with a surprise Genin team. He also remembered that Sakura was his second in command on the team. After that he remembered ending up tickling Sakura after a small food fight and they started kissing before they...' As his mind recalled the events of last night his eyes opened on their own and a smile spread across his face when all he could see was the head of soft pink hair pressed into his face. His arms were wrapped around her waist and chest, the feeling of skin on skin confirmed his memories and the smile grew even bigger. Although that wasn't the only thing growing thanks to the feeling of Sakura's naked body pressed against his and the memories of last night's sensations.

"I know that you're a stamina powerhouse but you need to remember that I'm not." Sakura mumbled still keeping her eyes closed and was just basking in the feeling of her boyfriend's naked body pressed tightly against her own. She felt his hot breath on the back of her neck and the feeling sent a pleasurable shiver down her spine.

"Well I wouldn't mind another round." Naruto whispered into her ear before he began slowly trailing kisses down her neck. As much as the girl wanted to let him keep going, she felt this nagging feeling like they were forgetting something important. Then there was the fact that she was fairly sore after the "workout" she had last night.

"Down Fido." Sakura giggled. When he kept kissing her she realized that she would have to lead by example. The cold air on her back was like swimming in a lake of ice after having been pressed against the human heater named Naruto for the whole night. After her initial shiver was over, Sakura stretched her arms above her head as she felt her stiff and protesting muscles begin to loosen up with the action. She suddenly felt a tingling feeling on the back of her neck. The same feeling she got when she was being watched. Spinning around to face the bed she watched Naruto as he ran his eyes over her body slowly, imprinting every curve and every inch of her body to memory. It was only when he rolled out of the bed, erection and all, did she notice her own state of nudity. She blushed and began to pull together a outfit for the day. A thought stopped her movements and brought a "innocent" smile to her face. She quickly took up the whole "innocent" demeanor and dropped the clothing. Naruto was already in the kitchen pulling together a breakfast thanks to the fact that his robe is much easier to get off or on. She walked into the kitchen naked and began to gather her own food completely aware of the dumbfounded expression Naruto was giving her.

"Um Sakura-chan, I'm not complaining or anything, but you do know you're naked right?" He seen her expression of playful innocence and felt a grin tug at his mouth.

"Well I don't see anything wrong with this picture-" Like hitting a brick wall, she remembered what they were forgetting. Seeing the playfulness evaporate from her face he asked her what was wrong. "We forgot about your Genin!"

"Oh shit!"

The house was a flurry of activity and the couple were out the door within five minutes. A thought dawned on Naruto as they leapt towards the training field and he laughed.

"Hey Sakura-chan. Maybe this is why Kakashi was always late!" They both laughed but neither one dismissed the idea. Maybe that was the answer to the great mystery of Kakashi's legendary lateness.

* * *

"You're late!"

The feeling of deja vu washed over Naruto and Sakura as the read head proclaimed loud enough to wake his teammates. Naruto grinned at the comment but Sakura decided to complete the moment.

"Sorry. We got lost while walking the path of life." Sakura said nonchalantly. It took a few seconds for both of them to burst out laughing after she used her own sensei's excuse for being late. The three genin looked completely lost and confused as they waited for the laughter to die down.

"What's so funny?" Rykuga demanded. The older shinobi were finally able to compose themselves. After a few more deep breaths the young red head found his question completely ignored and it irked him to no end.

"Ok you three lets see what you've got. To pass, you must capture me. I can promise you that it will be near impossible to do but you must find a way. First one to complete the objective passes while the other two are sent back to the Academy. No questions. Begin when you're ready." Naruto turned around and walked over to a tree before he plopped down and rested his head against the bark. Sakura came and sat next to him. The three genin were confused at the turn of events but they all silently charged. When they were within five feet of the duo Naruto lifted his hand and spoke, eyes still closed.

"Shinra Tensei."

The trio didn't know what hit them as they were lifted off of their feet and flew about 20 feet back, each landing with a thud. Mikasu groaned and lifted her head to try and locate her teammates. They were scattered across the training field, each one looking just as confused as her. Next she turned her golden eyes on where her sensei was and saw he was standing and stretching like he just woke up from a nap. She began to think about the previous minutes to piece together a strategy only to see the blonde smirk and disappear.

'What! How?!' Mikasu almost panicked before she noticed the faint after image that was still there. 'So it's speed huh.' She quickly factored in the new information and adjusted her planning accordingly. By now both Nabitora and Rykuga had regrouped around her and were scanning the area for their sensei. The same sensei that appeared right in front of Nabitora.

"What the-" the blue haired boy tried to leap back from the open hand reaching towards him, just barely escaping the outstretched hand.

"Bansho Ten'in."

Nabitora found himself being pulled towards the hand. What sent the chills down his spine was the fact that he wasn't voluntarily moving towards it. In fact his feet weren't even on the ground. The iron grip closed around his throat and brought his head up so he was looking into the blonde's six rapidly spinning tomoe. Next thing he knew everything went black and he was stuck in a pitch black room.

Naruto dropped the now trapped genin and ducked under the red head's punch, placing his right hand on the boy's stomach.

"Shinra Tensei!"

Once again the boy found himself airborne and severely confused. The confusion was replaced by pain when he hit the ground. Refusing to give up, Rykuga pulled himself up and glared at his sensei. Suddenly he heard someone speak behind him.

"I learned this lesson the hard way too, even with my eyes. Never let an enemy get behind you." An uncomfortable silence filled the air momentarily as the blonde shouted his technique with an evil grin.

"1000 Years of Death!"

Rykuga felt the fingers strike home and as he was shouting in pain he promised to never let an opponent behind him. Ever. Mikasu sweat dropped as Naruto sported a mischievous grin at being able to use the technique. Mikasu decided now was the best time to strike and performed several hand signs. The ground rumbled slightly but that wasn't the cause of Naruto nearly having a heart attack. No, that was caused by the sight of several roots shooting out of the ground and trying to ensnare him. He quickly focused his chakra to the surface of his skin before letting it flare out in every direction. He made it take on the fire elemental and was satisfied to see the roots burn. Mikasu dropped to her knees panting for breath. Her chakra reserves were fairly small which was why her Mokuton drained her so much.

"Well it seems we have a Senju with Mokuton. This is a very pleasant surprise. But it also seems you have little chakra." Naruto walked forward and Mikasu sighed.

"I surrender. I put everything I had into that." She was disappointed that her strategy failed. She fell back onto her butt and remained there. A shout was heard and she saw Rykuga appear behind Naruto who ducked and shot a fist up into Rykuga's stomach. The hit was solid and knocked the air out of his lungs. Naruto placed his shoe on Rykuga's back and after several minutes of silence he spoke.

"You failed the test. Yet in spite of that you three show great potential. You fought against me with everything you had. So I have decided to pass you." The clearing erupted into cheers from the two genin. Nabitora groaned and opened his eyes. The excited cheers caused him to finally drag himself up and he made his way to the group where he was filled in on the results.

Naruto grinned at their enthusiasm. He was looking forward to teaching the three.

* * *

The weeks of D ranked missions were getting on everyone's nerves. Sakura had been teaching Mikasu better chakra control while he would occasionally teach her exercises to expand her overall reserves. Otherwise when they weren't training they were on missions. Very boring missions. Today was a mission day and they grimly awaited the D rank that they would be assigned.

"Team 17 on the request of your sensei today I am giving you your first C rank mission." The faces of the three genin lit up while Naruto and Sakura smiled at the thought of not cleaning the river again. "Your mission will be bring you two back to a familiar place, Naruto and Sakura. Your team is to escort a caravan of supplies to the Wave Country. This SHOULD be a simple assignment but to account for unexpected delays you will have two weeks to complete the mission."

"Alright everybody get home and pack accordingly. We will meet up with the caravan at the front gate in 30 minutes. Dismissed."

* * *

AN: I live! Sorry for the delay. Been busy for the past few days but I'm good now. I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will try to get another one out soon. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	13. A Hero's Welcome

**Review Responses:**

**Drums4life: Yes you will see.**

**MK loves NaruSaku: I'm guessing that you changed your name Narusaku? Well I gave Mikasu Mokuton because although it came from the Senju clan, you don't see any Senju that can use it. Also because Mokuton is pretty damn cool!**

**kidloco: You're going to have to read and find out.**

**McAwzome: Mokuton is Wood Release (style). Come on you should know that lol.**

* * *

Naruto and Sakura arrived at the gate early to see the people they would be protecting. The caravan was filled with valuable supplies that Konoha was going to be trading for a large sum of money. It was very important that it reached its destination unmolested. While the caravan itself was normal enough, the people with it were another story. Most of them looked scared and jumpy while others were quite shifty and some seemed quite happy for reasons that could probably only be described as very bad. This was definitely a freelance caravan. Now as to why it was here puzzled the two shinobi. Normally freelancing caravans had their own outfit of hired thugs and mercenaries as protection. The fact that this one could hire shinobi meant they were doing quite well for themselves. Despite the shifty attitudes of most freelance caravans, they were reliable to pay what they owed. Naruto and Sakura decided to wait for the rest of their team before they introduced themselves. Naruto and Sakura found a spot on the rooftops to sit and wait for their three students. It was only ten more minutes before the three excited genin could be heard approaching. Several members of the caravan turned towards the voices and a dark expression fell upon their faces. They turned away in dismay and many went to the middle wagon where they removed several bundles of weapons and checked the condition of each one.

'So they protect themselves and trade. I see why they have so much extra money.' Naruto was fairly impressed that the merchants also fought their own battles. That would explain the look many had. Battle hardened and ready for almost anything. Rykuga appeared around the corner with Mikasu on his right and Nabitora on his left. They noticed the weapons in the traders hands and tensed slightly but continued forward, this time without making any noise. Naruto smiled at their alertness and motioned for Sakura to get next to him.

"I think we should get down there before our team kills the clients." Sakura nodded her agreement and the two leapt down in front of the genin causing Rykuga to yelp while the others jumped back slightly before relaxing at the sight of their senseis.

"Lets go meet the client." Naruto turned and found himself face to face with a behemoth. The man was at least seven feet tall and rippled with muscle. Hell his muscle had muscles! His head sported jet black hair which was buzz cut. His black eyes held a look of weariness and wisdom. He had a scar running from the left temple all the way to the right side of his neck, stopping just above where the artery was located. He had clearly had a close call. When he finally spoke his voice was deep and commanded respect.

"I am the man who hired you and I'm also the leader of this freelance caravan group. Call me Kazuki." The giant bowed slightly and Naruto returned the gesture before he introduced his team.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My co-sensei is Sakura Haruno." Sakura also bowed before Naruto continued. "The red head is Rykuga Azu, the lazy girl is Mikasu Senju, and the broody blue haired boy is Nabitora Shiro." Each of the genin bowed as Naruto said their names, completely unfazed by his description of them. Kazuki grunted his reply and spoke to the caravan.

"Ok escort's here so lets move it!" It took 30 seconds for them to get stuff put away before the wagons began moving, starting the slow journey to the Wave.

* * *

"Didn't expect his team to be assigned."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

"No." The blade glinted in the moonlight as he removed it from its sheath. "Not a problem at all."

"Good. Make it fast. Orochimaru-sama wants the contents of wagon five intact. The rest doesn't matter."

"Survivors?" The dark haired boy asked.

"None."

* * *

After three days of travelling at a civilian's speed the bridge was finally in sight. A sigh of relief spread through the line of wagons and they put on a final burst of speed to reach the bridge. Upon arrival, Naruto paused and smiled at the plaque above the entrance.

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked before her gaze followed his pointing finger. She too smiled at the name.

The Great Naruto Bridge.

"Named in honor of the ninja that inspired an entire country to retake its freedom." Naruto read the plaque. Before they could say anything else a fireball engulfed the first wagon in the caravan.

"Squad form up on the wagons!" Naruto shouted and sprinted to the front just as another massive fireball was sent out by the lone figure on the bridge.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The fireball dissipated and Naruto transformed his right hand into a cannon.

"Asura Attack!"

His body rocked with the recoil of the shot. The ball of energy almost hit but the figure slid under it and began charging directly towards the group. Before he could say or do anything he heard Kazuki order his men to charge. About 20 went out with the first group, all armed and trained. When the two sides collided Naruto watched with a newfound respect for his enemy. The person weaved gracefully between targets. He never wasted time with unneeded sword play, striking accurately and lethally. It took 15 seconds for the 20 men to be cut down and the figure continued to approach. Naruto charged out to meet the enemy.

As soon as the blonde was a good distance away five shinobi appeared around the caravan. Sakura recognized them from the bingo books.

"The Sound Ninja Five."

It didn't take long for her fight to get underway.

Naruto heard the sounds of combat behind him but knew he had to fight the opponent he was charging towards. Sure he could help his team in their fight but a man as strong as his mystery opponent wouldn't sit back and watch the action. No he would want to be right in the middle of it. It was better to take care of him first. He was curious as to the identity of his combatant but soon he would be able to see his face. A series of quick hand signs from his foe produced a third fireball which forced Naruto to drop to the ground and slide under the fire. Naruto lifted his cannon arm as soon as he could and almost fired. The only thing that stopped him was the Sharingan eye staring at his own and the promise he had made to Sakura.

"Sasuke?"

The Uchiha didn't have anything staying his attack which was executed in the form of a downward slice with the hope of splitting Naruto's skull in half. Naruto sent out a small push that forced the blade back and slammed a foot into Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke coughed but grabbed his leg and went to break his knee. Naruto stopped him with another Shinra Tensei and rolled to his feet. He returned his hand to its normal state and watched the Uchiha get up.

"It seems I didn't kill you last time. I'll correct that mistake here and now." Sasuke retrieved his sword and started to run lightning chakra through it. Naruto unsealed his own from his wrist and ran wind chakra through his sword. Without any other words the two charged and clashed metal on metal. Sasuke was slightly shocked when Naruto's sword began to cut through his own before he remembered something.

'Lightning is weak to wind!' The black haired boy barely pulled his sword away when Naruto kneed him in the stomach and swept his legs out from under him. Sasuke slammed into the ground and rolled just as Naruto was about to knock him out. Five powerful signatures suddenly appeared behind him and he ducked just as they landed beside the injured Uchiha.

"Did you get it?" Sasuke asked in between breaths.

"No. We were beaten back but managed to kill at least a third of them. We also think one of the dead may be a Konoha shinobi. Last I checked she was near death after fighting off three of us." The man tossed aside what looked like a blood covered bone sword and Sasuke nodded.

"We will see you soon Naruto." Sasuke smirked before they disappeared. Naruto immediately bolted back to the wagons. When he arrived bodies were everywhere. Kazuki's left arm was bandaged but he still helped attend to the wounded or would help rescue teams bring in the injured. He was looking for his team frantically. The words of one of the shinobi rang clearly in his head. Close to death.

"Sakura?! SAKURA!" He was ready to make an army of Kage Bunshin when he heard a voice.

"Over here Naruto." He followed the voice to where he heard it from and seen an awful sight. Sakura was wounded everywhere but had given herself quick medical treatment. She now had her healing hands hovering over the bodies of his three genin. Each one had suffered a nasty assortment of wounds except for Nabitora. When he asked Sakura about that she explained that all of his wounds were internal. Realizing that Sakura couldn't do anymore, Naruto quickly created three clones and had them carefully bring his genin into the town. After an hour two figures appeared on the bridge. Upon closer inspection Naruto realized that the figures were Tazuna and Inari. Tazuna approached Naruto with a sad smile.

"This isn't the kind of welcome a hero deserves. I'm very sorry."

* * *

AN: Yeah it's a short chapter but I decided to try and do something original instead of just doing another Team 7 Wave mission thing like many others. Please tell me how you like it. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	14. Problems Arise

**Review Responses:**

**MK loves NaruSaku: Ok I thought so. Just had to make sure. Also I see what you did there lol. Very nice. Oh and yes it is very bad. He can hold his own but currently there's no way he could beat him. Maybe...**

**Drums4life: No, no. The plot twist is late- I mean I don't know what you're talking about. Glad you like the new path I'm taking. Hope you enjoy the rest of the arc.**

**kidloco: Well death would solve the problem but then how would Naruto keep his promise to Sakura? There would be a way but I'm not going to take that troublesome route. Lol. Also who is this other person you speak of?**

* * *

Naruto held Sakura bridle style in his arms. She had insisted on helping treat the other wounded and had made it 3/4 of the way before she passed out from chakra depletion and her own wounds. The caravan had lost about 13 percent of the total members but through those sacrifices they were able to save all of the supplies except from the first wagon. Kazuki was surprisingly understanding of the losses.

"I know who Sasuke Uchiha is so I'm actually quite happy. We didn't lose nearly as much as we could have." That was what he said when Naruto questioned him about his attitude. He was surprised that Sasuke was quite infamous but was happy at the logical decision Kazuki had come to. Naruto had to admit that Sasuke had indeed become strong. He felt Sakura shift in his arms and clench her arm in pain. She had torn several muscles in her arm but still followed the code of the medic-nin: "The team comes before you." Basically that meant that unless your injuries impeded your work, your comrades were to be healed first then you could heal yourself. He heard her laboured breath that signified the pain each bump brought but he couldn't do anything about it. Or could he?

Naruto began to sift through the Sage's memories looking for any technique his eyes may hold for healing. They were within sight of the town when he stopped. He remembered something that Nagato had done when using the Six Paths of Pain technique. If one of the Pains were destroyed then the one that always remained in the back would come forward and summon up something that Naruto couldn't see. The injured Pain would disappear before emerging completely healed. Naruto figured hey if Nagato could do it then so can I. He began to concentrate on healing Sakura. He committed everything, mind, body, and soul, to the task. He suddenly felt a strange sense of recognition and spoke without meaning to.

"Jigokudo."

He was startled when a circle of purple flames lit up the ground from which a head emerged. The head possessed a set of Rinnegan and Naruto was thrown off wen he found that he was looking at both the head and himself.

'This must be the shared vision that Nagato was talking about.' He could only imagine the benefits an extra pair of eyes would be on the battlefield. The mouth suddenly opened and a tendril-like arm emerged and pulled Sakura from his arms. To his horror the arm pulled Sakura into the open mouth and the head began to chew. Naruto's stomach dropped and his heart felt like it was being constricted. He could only watch as the head continued to chew Sakura like a piece of food. After several minutes the mouth opened and Sakura stumbled out looking completely bewildered. And healed. Naruto nearly jumped for joy and silently thanked his abilities. He felt a huge grin appear on his face and embraced Sakura in a tight, yet careful, hug.

"Naruto what just happened?" Sakura just remembered having a bright light hit her face and se followed it. It took her out onto the bridge with Naruto waiting for her.

"I summoned some sort of head to heal you because the sight of you in pain hurt. I hate seeing you in pain. Anyways, the head began to chew on you which scared the shit out of me when you suddenly fell out perfectly healed." Naruto shrugged it off like being munched on was a common occurrence to him. Before se could scold him for turning her into a snack he took her anger away with a deep kiss.

"So you two finally got together huh?" They both turned to see a grinning Tazuna. The last wagon was just disappearing around the corner into town. Naruto grinned and nodded while Sakura gave a small, yet honest, smile and nodded. They both had just the smallest amount of pink gracing their cheeks. Tazuna laughed and patted Naruto on the back. "I figured you would get her sooner or later! Congrats kid!"

The mood was dampened when Inari came sprinting back from the hospital with news on a more somber series of events.

"Hey Naruto I got good news for you!" The boy was panting slightly from his long sprint across the now thriving town.

"Well lets hear it!" Naruto was anxious to know what was going on with his team.

"They were able to treat the injuries thanks to Sakura. Your team should be ready to go by noon tomorrow!" Naruto was shocked at the recovery time.

"How is that possible?!" His flabbergasted expression would have been priceless if the situation was different.

"Well kid thanks to the bridge here we became quite prosperous. We used that money to revamp our hospital and purchased top of the line medicine. And it's all thanks to a bunch of kids." Tazuna laughed at the irony of his words. He had said the same words when he first meet them but with such a different tone. Now his entire country was in debt to those three genin.

"Well should we go check on our team Naruto?" He looked down at the sound of her voice and smiled.

"Yeah Sakura-chan. Lets go."

* * *

It had been two days since they arrived and checked into the hotel room Tazuna had reserved for them. It was quickly apparent that the locals still remembered them considering they had to fight through a crowd of fans that had quickly congregated around them. It looked like they were wading through a river of hands which, if you think about it, was exactly what they were doing. At one point during their "swim" a man accidentally hit Sakura in the face. The group of people around him started shouting but it was Naruto who reacted the worst.

"Get back! We've had a long ass journey here and we just want to rest!" When Sakura got hit Naruto's eyes flickered to red briefly. In a deeper voice he shouted once more. "I said GET THE FUCK AWAY!" A shockwave shot out in all directions and carried the crowd with it. In those three seconds the group of shinobi vanished.

Naruto opened the 8th story window, otherwise known as the top floor and Naruto and Sakura's temporary abode, and slid into the room. He could hear his genin one floor below and groaned at how loud they were. He carried Sakura to the bed and gently lay her down.

"I could have walked. You know that right?" She said while still smiling at his kind gesture.

"Yeah," Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders, "but I like having you in my arms where I know I can protect you." The words caused Sakura's smile to grow softer as he took off his stained robe. Beneath his usual robe he took to wearing a secondary set of clothing in case of the slight chance that the robe may get forcefully removed during a fight. He wore a white short sleeved shirt that had the same pattern as the robe on its back. The nine tomoe with the Rinnegan-like pattern had practically become Naruto's new symbol although he did still wear the Uzumaki swirl on both shoulders. The magatama around his neck could be seen clearly due to the fact that the shirt had been cut open by Naruto himself for the very purpose of showing off the markings. His pants were a pair of black shinobi pants with a strange series of symbols ran up the outside of each leg before circling around the waist. Naruto would always tell people that the meaning of the markings would be revealed in due time.

Naruto slid his shirt off of his shoulders and on his back were six of the nine tomoe except they were arranged like his eye where the tomoe were located on the Rinnegan. The magatama on his chest gave off a very dim blue glow. The glow was natural which fascinated Sakura that his skin would actually glow. He moved towards the door to make sure it was locked before shedding his pants and climbing into bed in nothing but his orange boxers. Orange. Seriously leave it to Naruto to always have orange somewhere on him. She felt his arms encircle her and pull her close. She rested her head against his chest and, between the heat he gave off and his steady heart beat, she soon fell asleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up to an empty bed and found himself frowning instantly. He hated waking up without Sakura in his arms. He glanced at the clock and his frown turned into a look of confusion when he noticed it was 2:00 A.M. He sat up when he heard a noise and seen a ray of light shining beneath the bathroom door. He heard the noise again and got up to make his way towards the bathroom. Just as he was reaching for the handle the door opened and Sakura jumped in surprise. She looked much paler than usual and seemed drained of her energy.

"Hey Sakura-chan are you ok?" He asked while continuing to take in her state.

"Yeah I'm fine. Why do you ask?" He noticed the tiny quiver in her voice and instantly knew she was lying. Before he called her out on it he looked into her eyes and seen the almost pleading look that basically said "just drop it please" and his plan dissolved into thin air.

"Ok Sakura-chan. Lets go back to bed." He turned around and missed the pensive look on her face.

'I should've covered up on the trip during that storm. Now I'm sick. Great.'

* * *

Naruto woke up at the usual 6:00 AM and heard Sakura in the bathroom again. He frowned and this time he came into the bathroom to see her leaning against the wall looking absolutely exhausted.

"How long have you been in here?" Naruto stated it as a question that she WOULD answer.

"Since 4 in the morning. Guess I'm pretty sick huh?" She gave him a tired smile before she felt her stomach launch again. Naruto knealt beside her and held her hair behind her head as she retched into the toilet. After flushing it she collapsed back against the wall.

"I told you to cover up Sakura-chan." He spoke softly as he gently rubbed her back. The soothing sensation made her close her eyes and lean her head back.

"Well isn't this a pretty sight. She's sick and you're still looking after her. Pathetic." Naruto tensed and adjusted ever so slightly from a relaxed position to being ready to strike. The cold chuckle from the doorway finally forced the blonde's gaze up. He gazed into the blood red triple tomoe of the Sharingan.

"Sasuke." Naruto growled the name and stood in front of Sakura who was too drained to do anything. She could just watch as her boyfriend confronted one of the very few men that could actually fight him and hold their own. Sasuke's Sharingan locked onto Sakura and he laughed.

"Ohhh I get it. The dobe finally got the girl huh? Well I'll make sure to kill her next time. Right now I've come to give you a simple word of advice: Don't leave your clients unprotected." The boy smirked and vanished. Naruto felt his stomach begin to twist at what Sasuke implied.

"Sakura I need to go check. Wil you-"

"Go on. I'll be fine."

Naruto quickly got his shirt and pants, leaving the robe on the table, and sprinted out the window. It took only two minutes for Naruto to see a crowd of people gathered around something. When he arrived Naruto found himself looking upon the scene of a massacre. Almost every member of the caravan was dead while others were screaming in pain. Naruto noticed four Sound ninja were taken down during the fight. All that was left was the bone guy and Sasuke.

"Oi Naruto!" The call came from none other then an injured Kazuki.

"Kazuki-san I'm deeply sorry. We failed the mission and-"

"Yeah yeah the mission blah blah blah. I have a favor to ask." Naruto lifted his head in surprise and nodded for Kazuki to continue. "I have training as a shinobi so I was thinking that you could put in a word to Hokage-sama for me? Never really cared for this job anyways. I feel bad for the poor bakas but they chose to continue fighting even after he gave us the option to run. I don't know how I survived the deep slash to the chest but Kami must've been watching over me today. So what do you say?" Kazuki held out his massive hand. Naruto smiled and bumped fists with him.

"Kazuki go to the hospital. We'll talk more later ok?"

"Got it."

* * *

After getting Tsunade's approval Naruto had went to work getting Kazuki back to shinobi standards. It didn't take much considering the brute kept his shinobi skills in peak shape. Today was the day before the newly dubbed "Team Uzumaki" had to return home. Sakura's condition had not improved and every morning Naruto would be in the bathroom holding back her shoulder length pink hair. She began sleeping in later and eating more but Naruto didn't know what to think. He was still pondering the situation on the roof when a messenger hawk arrived. The note was from Tsunade to him.

_To Naruto_

_Naruto as soon as you are done reading this you must leave the Wave country. Konoha was attacked by Orochimaru, Sasuke, and a man claiming to be Madara along with the entire Sound village army. We have been forced to retreat to Suna but that is not all. During the invasion, Sasuke confronted and killed Itachi Uchiha. Afterwards he removed Itachi's eyes and is most likely having them transplanted as you read this. Sasori has also fallen by Sasuke's hands. Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Choji Akimichi have all been captured...along with Kakashi Hatake. I'm sorry Naruto._

_You must get to Suna as soon as possible but be weary. ROOT has been turned against us by that bastard Danzo so watch out for Konoha shinobi too._

_Get here safe gaki._

_Tsunade_

"That bastard! That fucking BASTARD" Naruto burned the letter in his hand and went into their room.

"Is everything ok Naruto?"

"No. We must leave. Now!" He already had the robe on and his things packed. He sent out Kage Bunshin to gather the genin and Kazuki. Everyone arrived packed and ready just as Sakura shouldered her bag.

"Lets go." The blonde leapt out the window with his team following close behind. Sakura finally caught up with him and turned her worried gaze on him.

"What's going on Naruto?" She waited patiently while Naruto mentally condensed everything down to three words: "Konoha has fallen."

* * *

AN: Here's your plot twist Drums! I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I'm catching a break with little homework so I'm writing as much as I can. Hopefully I can put up another chapter tomorrow. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	15. Surprise in Suna

**Review Responses:**

**NaruSaku1995: Normally I would agree with you but in this story Sasuke has been forced to fight against this god-like Naruto many times during training. During those training sessions he would no doubt get better just from the experience. Take that and combine it with training from both Orochimaru and Obito and you've got yourself a pretty nasty Sasuke.**

**Nanai: Only way to find out is to continue reading.**

**god of all: Thank you.**

**Drums4life: Admit it! You can see the future! Haha.**

**kidloco: Read to see how much of your list is correct.**

**Duesal10: To answer your question, an enemy needs to live long enough to begin talking about it first lol. Also thank you for the previous two reviews. As an author yourself you obviously understand the feeling a good review gives you. I hope you continue to enjoy the story.**

**MK loves NaruSaku: Well glad I was able to hit you with the plot twist. Also I don't know if I'm going to use the Paths. I just don't see Naruto as someone who would use dead bodies as his own puppets. I might yhough. As for the Rinne Tensei Naruto doesn't know about that yet. He still must finish organizing and separating the rest of the Rikudo Sennin's thoughts from his own. You must also remember that his doujutsu isn't all the way completed yet either. He still has three tomoe to go.**

* * *

Naruto and his group were huddled inside a small cave hidden among a cluster of rocks. They were forced to seek shelter after a group of ROOT agents had found them. It made Naruto feel sick to his stomach when he had removed the souls of his fellow comrades from Konoha but the intel he gained was priceless. It seemed as though Donzo had found out because the countryside was now crawling with Sound shinobi and ROOT agents. After a few encounters with Sound shinobi Naruto decided to lay low until the main group had moved on. Almost everyone was asleep except for Naruto who stood watch over the rest of the group. The smell of burning trees floated on the air as the enemy shinobi attempted to burn part of the forest with the hope of smoking them out. All they were succeeding in doing was pissing Naruto off as the forest he'd known for his entire life was being destroyed.

"Naruto!" He turned towards the sound of the panicked voice and seen Sakura retreating further into the cave. He created a Kage Bunshin to keep watch and followed the path Sakura took down the winding tunnels. The sound of rushing water greeted his ears and he soon found Sakura bent over the water, emptying her supper into the swift waters. He took up his usual position of holding her hair and messaging her back. After a few moments Sakura lifted her head to address Naruto.

"I'm so sorry Naruto..." She refused to look at him and her now free hair blocked her face from view.

"About what Sakura-chan? You have nothing to be sorry about." He continued the soothing action on her back while using his other hand to gently lift her face so he could look at her eyes. He felt the pain in his chest when he seen the tears flowing down her cheeks.

"I'm not sure how bad this flu is going to get so we need to hurry. I can only do so much with Medical Ninjutsu." She felt him pull her in and gently kiss her forehead.

"We'll set out in a couple of hours. I just have a few things to take care of. Until then please go back to sleep." He helped her stand and she nodded before following him back to the others and falling asleep. He sighed and turned towards the clone.

"Are you ready?" The clone nodded and they both set out with one goal on their minds: clear a path.

* * *

The 67th body dropped with a quite thud before Naruto used a jutsu to hide the body. The ground rose up and encased the body before the bulge sunk back down until it was like nothing ever happened. He glanced at the moon and estimated that it was about 3 AM. He dispelled his clone and silently made his way back to the camp. When he returned he noticed Sakura was awake but it seemed like her mind had checked out. She sat staring at a wall with a worried look on her face while biting her lower lip like she was deep in thought. He cleared his throat and she shook her head slightly before looking at him. For a brief moment Naruto thought he seen panic in her eyes but it vanished quite quickly.

"Are you ok Sakura-chan?" He noticed the change in her demeanour, like she had put on a mask.

"You baka! I was so worried about you!" She left out some key points of what else she was worried about too. That could wait until Suna. He shut up so he could avoid being in trouble and instead began to wake up the group. As he stirred them from their slumber he directed each of them to get ready to leave. It took only a few minutes before they were ready to depart.

"Ok everyone, our goal is to reach Suna today! Anyone falling behind will receive a 10 minute ride on a clone. Besides that there will be no breaks. Lets get going!"

* * *

5:00 PM rolled around and Naruto found himself and his team in his friend's office. The Kazekage and the Hokage had both greeted him warmly and he had given his report of their encounters. Now he was waiting for the location of his lodgings and any other information he may need.

"Well Naruto I was able to pull a few strings and reserve the last few rooms on the top floor of the hotel you requested. Just go to the desk and tell them your name. It's good to see you still alive my friend." Gaara gave Naruto a rare smile and dismissed the them but Naruto and Sakura both remained to ask one last question.

"Hey Baa-chan were going to need your help. Sakura has been sick recently and we have no idea what's going on. I'm bringing her to the hospital but I would feel a lot better if you helped us out." Naruto ignored the glare Sakura gave him when he basically announced that he made the decision without her consent.

"Gaki if you keep calling me that I'm going to bury under this god damn desert! I'll meet you there." Tsunade vanished in a cloud of smoke which threw the two young Jounin off. Tsunade almost never did that. They quickly did the same. After several minutes they found themselves in a room with Tsunade doing a diagnostic scan of Sakura's body.

"So Naruto what happened in Wave country? Why was the mission a failure?" Tsunade glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Sasuke." He clenched his hand briefly before it relaxed again. He was obviously beating himself up for what happened to the people in the caravan. So many lives senselessly ended in a massive slaughter.

"Oh I under-" Tsunade's eyes widened and she double checked the area one more time. Her gaze became steely and settled on Naruto. "When was the last time you had sex? Either of you?" Both Naruto and Sakura blushed at such a personal question. They answered anyways because they knew that with Tsunade there really was no other choice.

"Um...uh...a-about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Why?" They exact same answer came from both.

"And who was it with." The blush stained their whole faces now. Naruto prepared to answer by moving next to the door.

"W-with...Sakura..." His hold on the doorknob tightend in preparation to flee.

"That's what I thought..." She removed her hands from Sakura's form before continuing. "Well it seems you didn't use protection either. Don't even try to argue Naruto. I guess I should get on with it." She smiled the couple as Naruto went to stand beside Sakura. "Well Sakura you aren't sick. No instead you're pregnant."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, Tsunade's words still not registering yet. "Well I'm so glad that you aren't- wait what?!" His eyes were wide as he stared at Tsunade.

"How else do you want me to say it? You knocked her up. She's got a bun in the oven. You're going to be a father!" Tsunade emphasized the last one by smacking Naruto on the head.

"Owww what was that for?!" He rubbed the sore spot gently and glared at the Hokage.

"That was for getting my best student pregnant!" She then pulled the boy into a hug. "And this is for finally realizing your dream of having a child with Sakura. Congratulations you two." She pulled away and left the room to fill out the necessary paperwork so she could give them both some time. Sakura had expected to hear that since the cave and was now apprehensive about how Naruto would take it.

"I'm going to be a father..." His tone was that of someone far away. Sakura felt almost crushed at the tone but tried to cover her feelings with a poor attempt at humour.

"Surprise." Her voice was weak yet Naruto turned his head towards it. They stared at eachother for several seconds before the blonde began to smile.

"I'm going to be a father." The voice sounded much warmer now and Sakura smiled.

"I'm going to be a father and Sakura-chan is the mother!" He felt several tears of happiness stream down his face and he pulled Sakura into a loving, yet excited, embrace. "I'm going to be a father." He said it like it was a fact that everyone would be wise to remember. He laid a loving hand on Sakura's stomach and pulled his gaze down to where his hand was.

"I promise that I'll be the best father ever! I will be here for you to give you everything I never had. I will always be here for you. I swear on my vow to become Hokage that I will always, ALWAYS be there for you! Even if that means giving up on becoming the Hokage dattebayo!" His verbal quirk somehow emphasized his seriousness and his dedication to their unborn child made Sakura begin to cry.

"I love you so much Naruto-kun."

"And I love you too Sakura-chan." He patted her stomach lightly. "And I love you too little one."

* * *

AN: Well some of you were able to guess it but I expect most of you had a feeling. Yes Sakura is pregnant. This was just a chapter to finally get that out there along with having Naruto arrive in Suna. Please tell me what you think of the chapter! As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	16. Torn From Home

**Review Responses:**

**MK loves NaruSaku: If a situation severe enough arises then maybe. Otherwise thank you.**

**NaruSaku1995: Good point. This is another thing to keep in mind in the future. Thank you. For now I can only say that I hope you enjoy the story otherwise. Once again thank you for the info. I need to go through and watch the series over again sometime to refresh my memory.**

**Nanai: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Hopefully you continue to enjoy the story.**

**Drums4life: I did try to leave just enough hints so people could piece it together but not too many (I think). As for you seeing the future that's fine as long as you don't spoil the story before I finish it lol.**

**leafstone: Thank you!**

* * *

Sasuke awoke to darkness for the third straight day now. He had finally achieved his ambition of killing his brother and was even able to kill Sasori of the Red Sand. His brother's eyes were now his and Konoha fell under the might of Orochimaru and Madara's combined forces. He should be felling incredible except for one tiny thing: Itachi had shown him the truth right before he died. Sasuke touched his forehead where only a few days ago Itachi had placed his blood stained fingers.

_"Sasuke...I still believe that you...will choose the right path...Always remember...they still care. No matter what...they still care."_

Itachi's final words echoed in his mind as he thought about what Itachi had said. Those words had struck Sasuke deeply as he remembered his time with Team 7. Although he continually told himself that he was an Avenger, the mantra now seemed dull and lifeless. It only made his heart sting as he thought about everything he had thrown away in this petty ambition of his. All of the friends he hurt and the bridges he had burned. Hell, he had even tried to kill his best friend. Now look at what he had left. Now he had nothing but darkness to comfort him.

"Sasuke..." Sasuke could recognize the voice of his former sensei anywhere. Kakashi was locked in a cell adjacent to the Medical ward of the prison. They were forced to use the prison when Konoha destroyed the hospital and any medical equipment they couldn't take as they retreated. Thanks to that action countless Sound shinobi had perished to their injuries. Kakashi had been captured when he remained behind to buy the last few shinobi the time they needed to plant the paper bombs in the hospital and escape. He was captured when he finally collapsed of chakra depletion. He had been imprisoned for three days now and his Sharingan was sealed for the moment. This was the first time he tried to contact Sasuke.

"What Kakashi." Sasuke sounded cold but he couldn't help it. After being with Orochimaru and Madara for so long he had become cold and distant, desensitized to things that would make even the most battle hardend shinobi vomit. Now he was trying to be friendly with the hopes of repairing a broken bond yet his voice portrayed the complete opposite.

"Sasuke...I forgive you for what you did. I...I also wanted to tell you that Naruto and Sakura still care. They're still going to save you no matter what." The words struck a chord deep in Sasuke's heart and for once in a long time he felt that strange warmth inside him. The warmth that only comes with a feeling that had been Sasuke's enemy for so long he forgot its tenderness. The feeling of happiness.

"I hope so Kakashi. I truly do." He whispered but it was just loud enough for the silver haired Jounin to hear. Kakashi smiled a sad smile.

'I just jope it's not too late for me to see their reunion.'

* * *

Naruto softly stroked Sakura's hair as she slept. He was still processing yesterday's news and almost believed he was still dreaming. For only in his wildest dreams could he have ever thought that he would be having a child with Sakura one day. Yet here he was with her head resting on his chest and their child growing inside of her. He tucked her pink hair behind her ears and kissed the top of her head ever so gently before he carefully got out of bed, making sure not to wake her. He quietly got dressed and wrote a note to Sakura before he slipped out into the early morning air. His heart was heavy as he thought about what was going to happen but he knew that he had to answer Gaara's summons. The blonde also knew what was going to result from those summons.

He snapped out of his thoughts when he was at Gaara's office and entered the room. He found that he wasn't alone with the Kazekage. Shikamaru leaned lazily against the wall while occasionally glancing at the "troublesome" Temari who was still half asleep. Kankuro was tinkering with his puppet, Naruto guessed he was adding a new weapon or poison, as he sat on the new couch in Gaara's office. Lee was doing handstand push ups using only his thumbs counting off his 317th one. Tenten stood beside Neji, both sweat dropping at Gai who was doing the same exercise as Lee except he was using one hand.

"Ah Naruto. I'm happy to see you finally came." Naruto turned to face the desk where Gaara sat with a small smile. He still didn't know about Sakura's "condition", nobody besides Tsunade, Sakura, and himself did, so he couldn't know what he was tearing Naruto away from.

"Yeah..." Naruto gave a weak smile that only Gaara and Shikamaru noticed. Gaara's smile faded at Naruto's unusual behavior but Naruto just shook his head in an "I'll tell you later" fashion. Gaara nodded and called everyone to attention. Once they finally got Lee and Gai's attention over their shouts of youthfulness Gaara was finally able to proceed.

"I have gathered you all, at Tsunade's request, for a mission. As we all know Konoha fell several days ago to the combined forces of Orochimaru and a man calling himself Madara. Several important shinobi were captured by the Sound. Your mission is to act as an infiltration and sabotage team. Your primary objectives are the recovery of Choji Akimichi, Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Kakashi Hatake. You are also going to capture Sasuke Uchiha at all costs. Your secondary objectives are the demolition of any medical facility, weapons storage and manufacturing facilities, and any supply lines and food storage facilities. This mission is expected to take at least 10 months or longer. This is an SS rank mission. You all know that this is the highest rank available so the risks are obviously great. You are to depart immediately. Your supplies are located at a checkpoint in the Valley of the End. You are dismissed. Naruto you stay here for a few minutes." The other shinobi filed out to wait for him at the entrance to Suna. "What's going on Naruto. Something is troubling you."

Naruto let out a sad sigh. His smile was just as sad as he spoke. "This mission came at the worst possible timing."

"Why is that?" Gaara leaned back to study his friend's face.

"Well," Naruto's smile brightened as he spoke. "I found out that I'm going to be a father!" Gaara didn't expect to hear this and was about to congratulate him when he realized what his friend meant.

"Oh... I'm sorry Naruto..." He realized that his friend was almost certainly going to miss the birth of his first child. He noticed the smile on the blonde's face turn sad again. "Well I guess a congratulations are in order. I will tell Sakura where you are so-"

"No don't. She will just try to follow us. It will hurt missing my child's birth but it would be unbearable if something happened to her and the baby." Gaara nodded his head and Naruto turned to leave. "Thank you for everything Gaara. Tell Sakura-chan that I love her. Please look out for her while I'm gone. If something happens to them...I...I don't know what I would do."

"I will Naruto." Gaara gave him another sad smile. Naruto nodded once and disappeared. He reappeared in front of hos team.

"Lets go." With that the team of Konoha and Suna shinobi set off for their long mission away from family and friends.

* * *

Sasuke felt his presence as he approached Konoha despite concealing his chakra. He smiled a small smile just as the last bandage was removed from his eyes.

'Naruto my time has finally come where I can return the favor.'

* * *

AN: At the rate these twists keep popping up I might have a whole new story! Haha. Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	17. I'm Here to Stay

**Review Responses:**

**Nanai: Well how do you think she will feel? This chapter should answer that for you.**

**MK loves NaruSaku: I know I'm evil haha. As for Sasuke, I can understand why you hate him so much but you must remember that I like the idea of a redeemed Sasuke. However I never said it couldn't be a death bed redemption. Something to think about until I reveal what happens.**

**NaruSaku1995: Nagato wouldn't use the Rinne Tensei because he would revive Itachi right in the middle of enemy territory. Naruto hasn't discovered that ability yet either.**

* * *

-4 months after departure-

Naruto gazed off towards the direction of Suna where his beloved Sakura was about 5 months pregnant with their child. He sighed as he Sakura and his home in Suna. He couldn't help but wonder how she was right now. If she needed his help and if Gaara was keeping his promise. He also couldn't help the crushing feeling of homesickness as it felt like his heart was being crushed inside his own chest. He hoped that Sakura at least had something to distract her so she wouldn't feel the crushing sorrow that he did.

"Naruto come on. If we hurry we can finish laying the charges in the prison today. Then tomorrow we can work on prisoner rescue." Shikamaru nudged the blonde to rouse him from his thoughts. They were actually 2 months ahead of schedule but that still didn't mean that they weren't pressed for time if he wanted to make it back for the birth of his child. He nodded and stood up to join the others as they head into the nightmare that was now Konoha once again.

* * *

Sakura sat all alone on the couch wearing one of Naruto's shirts and wrapped in a blanket. She was forced into maternal leave one month ago by Tsunade when they found out that the reason for her exhaustion was due to the baby already forming a fairly large chakra network at this young of an age. Tsunade had remarked that only Naruto's kid could cause trouble and do amazing things before it was even born. Sakura still let out a small chuckle at how true the statement was.

Naruto...

She missed him so much. Even more so now that she had nothing occupying her mind. There were a few mornings that him not being in the bed when she woke up would actually cause her to break down and cry. She was an emotional train wreck and she knew it but the loneliness was almost unbearable. Yet she still got up every morning, took care of herself and the baby, and went to bed every night so Naruto would be able to come home to a happy family.

Sakura felt the tears coming again and hugged the blanket closer to her body while doing her best to stifle her sobs.

* * *

-6 months after departure-

Naruto ducked under another shuriken before flipping his sword up to slice open the man's chest before he kicked the now dying person into the raging inferno of the building behind him. He jumped over a sword aimed for his legs and held out a hand towards the attacker who was launched into several splintered beams that impaled him. A hand grabbed him by the neck and twisted him around so he was staring into the Sharingan eye hidden beneath the orange mask.

"Time to capture the Kyuubi."

The air itself seemed to be pulling Naruto in towards the single eye. He tried to think of a way out before it was too late but his savior came in the form of a blue blade made of lightning. He followed the blade back to see Sasuke's outstretched hand. The Uchiha quickly grabbed the Uzumaki just as a building fell into the street and separated the two opposing sides.

"Come on Naruto! I promised you that I would get you back to Sakura didn't I?" The raven haired boy had proven himself when he killed Orochimaru as the Suna and Konoha shinobi fought against him. They still didn't trust him even after he saved the captured shinobi and quite honestly he couldn't blame them. After everything he had done he knew that the road of redemption would be a long one but it would be worth it. He slung Naruto's arm over his shoulder and they began to quickly hobble out of the city. On the outskirts of Konoha Naruto and Sasuke met up with the others.

"Ok," Naruto began "we are going to take the extra long way home to throw off any pursuers. Everyone clear?" His question was meet with a chorus of "hais" and the group took off towards the forest. The extra long way home would easily tack on 1 to 2 more months but they couldn't risk being followed back. Naruto cast a sad glance at the covered body of their fallen comrade and felt tears stinging his eyes. He had known the person since his genin days and maybe even before that so it hurt deeply having to be the one to cover the body.

He could only hope that Sakura was alright.

* * *

"Thank you Matsuri. Also tell Gaara I said thank you also." Sakura called out to the retreating girl.

"Oh it's not a problem! It's always nice to spend a little girl time with you Sakura. I'll let Gaara know too. See you later Sakura!" Matsuri waved good bye to Sakura who returned the gesture before the door closed. The sound of the closing door signified that Sakura was alone once again. She had come to enjoy Matsuri's visits which started after Gaara and her had started dating. After Gaara and Matsuri became a couple Matsuri had quickly befriended the pinkette. Between Ino and Matsuri she recently had plenty of thing to keep her mind off of Naruto. But now with her due date in about a month her brain refused to stop thinking about the blonde knucklehead.

'Hurry home Naruto...' She sighed and lay back on the couch. After the 6th month of her pregnancy she could barely move around the house before she would be exhausted. She had come to rely on Ino's help for that and Tsunade would always make special house calls for her. Now with her being in the last few months of the pregnancy she was confined to her house by both physical and medical limitations.

She heard a knock on the door and as she called for Ino to enter all hell broke loose.

* * *

-7 months after departure-

Naruto seen the gate of Suna and put everything he had into his legs. He heard the heavy breathing of his companions fade into the distance as he reached nearly inhuman speeds. He blew through the entrance and leapt onto the rooftops, making a mad dash for his house. He hoped to god that he would find Sakura there greeting him with the extended belly of someone eight months pregnant. Then he could bring her to the hospital when she was in labor and he would be there when his child was brought into the world.

He reached his door and stopped. A sudden nervousness set in and he had no idea why. Besides the fact that he looked like the survivor of a war with his tattered cloak and somewhat ripped up robe coupled with the fact that he now had a small goatee going from his inability to shave he might look like a completely different person. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Naruto turned the handle and entered the house. It was around 6 at night so he wasn't surprised to hear an enchanting voice singing a song in the kitchen. The melody tugged on his heart and he made his way to the kitchen. He turned the corner and was faced with Sakura's back. She was flitting through the kitchen and Naruto could see the traces of fat left over from the pregnancy still hugging her figure, giving her a softer appearance. He knew that he missed the birth of his child but just seeing Sakura took that pain completely away.

"Sakura."

She froze. Then, ever so slowly, she turned to face the blonde that stood in her kitchen door. If it wasn't for the rippled and tomoed eyes along with that caring smile she might not have recognized him.

"N-Naruto?" The realization sunk in and tears began to fall from her green eyes. "Oh god it really is you!" They both rushed forward and Naruto pulled Sakura off her feet into a tender and passionate hug which was made even more passionate by the kiss they shared. After she shed her tears and Naruto let a few of hus own joyful tears fall they finally pulled apart. After several minutes of just taking in the reality of the situation Sakura finally spoke up.

"Do you want to meet your son?" She smiled softly at him and Naruto felt nervous even as he nodded yes. Sakura took his hand and lead him to what used to be the spare bedroom. She stopped outside the door to explain a few things first.

"Naruto just know that he came an entire month early. It was touch and go there for a while but it seems he inherited a strange combination of your determination and my hatred of losing at anything." She chuckled softly and proceeded to open the door and lead him to a small crib. Inside he seen the tuft of blonde hair on his tiny head. The barely visible eyes were an ocean blue color just like his father's. Naruto gingerly held out a finger and the boy latched on with a surprisingly strong grip. Naruto could see with his eyes that the boy was channeling chakra randomly from a fairly massive store of it.

"What's his name?" Naruto turned to look at Sakura when his finger was finally free.

"I thought I'd name him after your childhood hero. Naruto meet Minato." He smiled at the name and turned to face the small baby once again.

"Hey there little Minato. I'm your father Naruto. Hey I'm sorry I missed your birth but I promise you that I will never miss another important event in your life ever again dattebayo!" He gave Minato a big smile before he bent down and softly kissed the boy's head before taking Sakura's hand and leading her to bed for the first peaceful night of sleep either of them had in almost 7 months.

"I'm finally home Sakura-chan. Im finally home."

* * *

AN: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Before anyone gets too upset remember that I did say I liked a redeemed Sasuke. Now I know many of you wanted him to die but I couldn't bring myself to do it yet. It still may happen. Hopefully in the mean time you can get your satisfaction from Sasuke's future punishments for his crimes. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	18. Blame turns to Anger

**Review Responses:**

**NaruSaku1995: Thank you for the idea. It was a good one and may actually have a role in upcoming events. It's good hearing from the readers and I can't encourage it enough.**

**MK loves NaruSaku: Yeah about that... I can't really change what I've had planned for several chapters now. That would just throw everything off. As for updating well hopefully this is soon enough to prevent any unfortonate injuries.**

**Enlace: Thank you.**

**Drums4life: You know it lol.**

**NarutoFreak2000: Damn dude thank you. I didn't know I had inspired any authors! If that's true then I feel amazing!**

Message from the Author: Hey everybody I wanted to send this quick thank you out to all of the people who have favorited, followed, and read this story. As a "green" author it is one of the best feelings to see the statistics on this story! As of right now (as in when i wrote this) this story has 30,429 views, 147 favorites, 154 followers and 108 reviews! Those numbers are absolutely incredible to me. I also would like to say a very special thank you to my reviewers. The numbers are added motivation but what keeps me writing is hearing from all of you. I love to hear from you guys and welcome any reviews with open arms. Well the exception being flame reviews that give no helpful insight to how I could better the story but I'm sure that's the same for most authors. Anyways thank you to all of you fantastically awesome people! Now on to the story!

* * *

It was an early morning much like the day he left all of those months ago. The morning that forced him to lead a mission that ended up causing him to miss the birth of his first child. The child that was named after his idol, Minato Namikaze. The very same child that was now crying out for something. Naruto opened his eyes to find the bed next to him empty. He got up and practically stumbled his way to the former guest room that now served as the nursery all the while still shaking off the effects of sleep on his awareness. He noticed the nursery door was open and went to enter the room he was greeted by a heart warming sight. Sakura was holding little Minato and was humming gently while swaying ever so softly. He leaned against the door frame and watched as Sakura calmed the infant to the point of sleep once again. During the whole thing Naruto smiled at Sakura's maternal side and how soft she could be. Sakura, arguably the toughest kunoichi in Konoha and maybe even Suna was humming a nursery for a child. The thought made him smile again.

"You're so beautiful you know that right Sakura." He didn't ask this. Instead he stated it with no room for arguments. She smiled and went on her tip toes to plant a gentle kiss on the blonde's lips. He still couldn't believe that he was a father at 17 years old. His birthday had been a month before his return. They were the youngest shinobi from Konoha to have a child. Maybe even the youngest couple in the history of Konoha to do so. Yet despite all of the nervousness and trepidition he felt they would do just fine. He came to that conclusion last night when he met his soon for the first time. He felt Sakura cup his now smooth cheek and kiss him one more time before she left the room.

'Thank god the baka shaved that goatee!' Her Inner shouted and Sakura found that she couldn't agree more. She made her way to the kitchen where she began to cook breakfast for the two of them when she found herself being carried down the hallway to their bedroom.

"Oh no you don't. After being gone for this long I'm not letting you leave my side for AT LEAST a week!" The blonde growled as he carried the giggling pinkette down the hall.

"What about missions? Or your team?" Sakura didn't want Naruto to skip out on his duties just for her no matter how kind of an action it was.

"Gaara assigned me a new mission." Naruto thought it was funny that Tsunade was only advising Gaara when he was more than ready to allow Tsunade lead the refugees from Konoha.

"And that is?" Naruto was about to kick open the bedroom door when Sakura smacked his back to remind him of the child in the house. He smiled and quietly opened the door to slide in with her. After shutting the door he picked her up and laid her down on the bed.

"That mission is, and I quote 'I'm assigning you to the mission of being a good father until further notice. You may resume command of your genin team for training only. That is only after a month of vacation. Until then and for their missions Yamato will be their secondary sensei.' So as you can see I'm not going anywhere." He pulled her up and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. Sakura deepened the kiss causing him to increase the intensity. Sakura, not to be outdone, flipped Naruto on his back before straddling his lap. She could feel him getting aroused and smirked.

"How bout we go for child number 2?" She asked and he grinned.

* * *

It was 1 in the afternoon before the sweating duo emerged from the room naked as the day they were born. Naruto had a satisfied smile spread across his face as he watched Sakura limp to the sink with a glass. He drank in the sight of her naked body for a few more minutes before his stomach practically roared its neglected needs to the world. Sakura was forced to spit her water into the sink or run the risk of choking as she laughed at the blonde who was now frantically searching for his life giving meal. He threw open a cupboard and was greeted by the sight of an entire cabinet dedicated to ramen. The sight almost brought a tear to his eye.

When the two were finally done with eating a knock at the door had them scrambling for clothes. They just finished covering themselves when Ino practically threw open the door although it wasn't with her usual happy vigor. Naruto took one look at her face and knew why. She looked like she was on the verge of tears and walked straight up to Naruto who had his head down waiting to hear the inevitable.

"Ino what's wrong?" Sakura was about to step forward but was shocked when Ino slapped Naruto. He openly welcomed the pain as she spoke quietly.

"Why?"

No answer.

"Why?" It was asked slightly louder. It was yet again met with silence.

"Why!"

"Because I couldn't do anything! Is that what you wanted to hear? Yes I, Naruto Uzumaki, was completely helpless. I was bound up by chakra absorbing rope with several chakra seals and they forced me to fucking watch!" Naruto had tears running down his face that only made Ino cry harder.

"Where were the others? Why were you alone?!" She held a somewhat accusing tone that cut deeper than any kunai ever could.

"We each had a seperate job. Mine turned into a trap." He tried to explain further but Sakura's embrace helped tue damn break the rest of the way. "I'm so sorry Ino! I tried! Oh god did I try but those bastards...they...they tortured him right in front of me! I wasn't able to do anything! Oh god I'm so sorry!" He had never cried this hard ever before but now he was almost a groveling mess as he feel back and sunk down against the wall with his hands on his face. Ino didn't say anything. Instead she left. Not a single word to the broken blonde.

"Hey hey Naruto calm down! Tell me what happened." She gently tried to coax an answer from him which eventually worked.

"They...they killed him!"

"Who?"

"Choji...those fucking bastards killed Choji!" His hands fell revealing the red eyes. Before Sakura could react a massive spike in killer intent made the air feel solid as the overwhelming feeling of death and despair paralyzed her. A red cloak of chakra began to envelope the now trembling Naruto as he stood up. The wall behind him was blown out when a shockwave shot through the house. Three fox like chakra tails extended from his back and Sakura watxhed him turn and leap out the window heading in the direction of Konoha.

He wanted blood and one way or another blood was going to be spilled.

* * *

AN: Hey guys sorry this took so long. I recently discovered another game like Clash of Clans and tried it out which rekindled my addiction to Clash of Clans while addicting me to the new game too. Yeah...it's been an interesting few days haha! As for this chapter I began writing it 2 days ago which is why the statistics are off up top. Anyway I wanted to thank you for your patience while my game addicted self splurged on an old "addiction". As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	19. The Wrath of a God Part I

**Sorry guys but my email was almost completely erased so I am unable to do review responses this chapter.**

I also wanted to apologize for the long wait. My school's Homecoming was this week and as a Senior I kinda play a role in that. Along with that was the fact that this Doc was also erased once. I lost over 3000 words. Finally top that concoction of disaster off with writer's block and you've got a truly formidable "wall" to bypass. I would like to thank everyone who sent in ideas. You guys made this chapter possible.

* * *

Rage.

It oozed from his very being and permeated deep into his soul. It was absolute and inescapable. It was a self sustaining cycle of self doubt which turns into loathing. From loathing to anger and from anger to rage. Kurama wasn't helping either. Just because he knew the fox's name didn't mean he already had his respect. No...Kurama wanted his freedom and now was the perfect time.

The 4th tail began to develop and Naruto lost consciences. The boy crashed to the ground as a sphere of red encased him. The sphere shot a beam into the sky and soon after a roar filled with malice that carried promises of death ripped through the forest.

* * *

Sakura's concern turned to dread as she watched the crimson beam shoot into the atmosphere. The roar chilled her blood and made her muscles freeze in fear. Her comrades weren't in much better condition. She seen Sasuke and her thoughts wandered back to the promise he had made. It echoed through her mind as she watched the raven haired man continue to struggle forward despite his body's very obvious protests against such suicidal actions.

'Naruto is my brother. I regret killing my real brother every single day. I swear that I will protect this brother with every ounce of my being. No matter how I'm punished I will continue to help him move forward in his dreams. This I swear!'

It was the first time Sakura had ever heard that kind of passion in the Uchiha's voice. He truly meant it and would move the sky above if that was what it took. It was obvious that Naruto was the man's last tether to this life. The last thing keeping him from doing something irreversible. Now that tether was threatened by a blade. His rope holding him here was being cut right before his eyes. He. Was. Desperate. That desperation slowly moved him beyond the sight of the paralyzed group. When the chilling feeling of death finally receeded the pinkette began her frantic journey forward. Everything was finally looking up for her only for Ino to open her big mouth.

Glancing over at her ex-rival she noticed a myriad of conflicting emotions that washed over her expression constantly. She had just suffered the loss of a friend and long time teammate only to accidentally cause another to go on a rampage. A loud explosion wrenched everyone's gaze forward just in time to see a wall of trees crash into them before darkness claimed them.

* * *

Sasuke drug himself from the crater he was buried in and gazed at the destruction around him. He had caught up with the rampaging blonde just as he fired a strange purple ball straight into the walls of Konoha. The destruction was unbelievable. At least 1/8 of the entire wall was vaporized in the blast. The treeline was pushed back almost half a mile to form a wave of wood when they were launched. Sasuke had been given just enough time to bring his Susanoo flaring to life before the ball had impacted. It was for that reason only that the large shard of wood had only stabbed him and not cut him in half. The flare of purple had only been seen by one person. The very person he was there to save: Naruto Uzumaki. That person was now inches away and looked at him with glowing white spheres for eyes. A strange white light seemed to compose his mouth and the cloak of chakra was only so dark red because of the blood the was mixed with it from Naruto's injured body. Sharingan meet white and the mini fox began to ooze disgust from his body. It was obvious that there was a history for this demon with the Sharingan. History bad enough to reward Sasuke with a tail whip across the face. His neck was almost snapped from the impact of the hit and Sasuke found himself airborne. Another purple ball began to form in front of Naruto's waiting mouth and Sasuke swore. There was no way he would survive a direct hit from something that wiped a mile off of the map.

The red and blue globs of chakra finished forming the massive sphere which rapidly condensed. Naruto opened his mouth and the sphere fell into his stomach. Sasuke ignored what was happening and continued to frantically think of something to do. He did the most obvious thing and brought his Susanoo into existence but that wouldn't even be close to enough protection.

He looked down just in time to see the ball of chakra get launched towards him.

'Damn...I've already failed in my promise...'

The explosion engulfed the airborne entity of purple energy. Naruto howled his victory to the world before turning back to the city before him. Red beams were shot from his mouth and explosions began to erupt all over Konoha.

* * *

Sakura felt the tears sting her eyes as she watched Sasuke disappear in the explosion. She had finally dug herself out with her super strength while Yamato aided with his Mokuton. They had just finished digging everyone out and had barely reached the start of the crater when a purple object was engulfed in a devastating explosion. She had immediately recognized the purple as Sasuke's Susanoo. The dots were connected before the first volley of chakra blasts rocked Konoha.

Naruto had killed Sasuke.

The man she loved had just killed their long lost friend like an insect was crushed beneath a shoe. The smoke from the explosion still covered the sky and was thick enough to bring on an artificial eclipse. The largest source of light was the fires that now raged throughout Konoha along with the occasional volley of chakra followed by explosions lighting up the darkness. Sound ninja had responded and were being cut down by the dozens in a flurry of slashes and a path of blood geysers was slowly forming a trail into the city. The earth was actually becoming mud from all of the blood that was mixing with it in this gorey massacre. Sakura soon found herself seperated from the rest of them as she fought off surviving Sound shinobi. A shout from behind her caused the pinkette to spin around only to have a kunai fly past her head close enough to take several strands of hair. The hand still held the kunai.

What remained of the man's head was crushed beneath the foot of a 5 tailed Naruto. He was about to attack her too when she shouted.

"Naruto please stop!"

The cloaked boy stopped his claw just centimeters from decapitating her as a sense of familiarity seemed to hit him. He cocked his head to the side and looked at her curiously as if pondering where he had seen the pink haired beauty before him.

"Remember me Naruto? Its Sakura-chan. It's the mother of your child Naruto. You remember right?"

The claw was pulled back as the chakra began to receed. Slowly a burned Naruto came into view. He was barely conscious and was too weak to support himself as gravity pulled him to jis knees.

"S...Sa...Sakura...chan?" He was about to say something else when a hand grabbed Sakura by her shoulder length hair and yanked her to the ground. She seen a brief flash of his eyes. It wasn't the bloodlust that got her. No it was the eyes themselves. Particularly the ripple pattern in his golden eyes. A katana was plunged through her stomach right in front of the wide eyed blond. The man laughed as she coughed up blood before he viciously twisted and turned the sword to prolong her agony. He finally pulled the blade from her shredded stomach and kicked Sakura in the side of the head hard enough to cause her to black out.

The man looked straight at Naruto and grinned.

"Tenzou Uzumaki at your service _cousin_."

The cloaked returned, half of Konoha became a crater, and the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was one tail away from freedom.

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AN: BOOM! Surprise! Bet none of you seen that plot twist coming! Actually yeah there's no way anyone seen it coming unless you're psychic (Drums4life no cheating). I know it not exactly the happiest chapter to come back to after a week of waiting nor is it the most well written but sadly this is what my brain remembered from my previous write up along with some new ideas to try and tie the pieces together. Hopefully you all don't hate me to the point of quitting the story. That would be a HUGE bummer. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!

Also I could REALLY use everyone's input for ideas whether it be through Reviews or PMs. I need your help and not only that but I love to hear from my audience. The better I know all of you the better I can shape this story. I hope to hear from you guys!

Until next time.

Titan


	20. The Wrath of a God Part II

**Review Responses:**

**Enlace: That about sums it up...maybe.**

**Duesal10: Thank you and the tip has been noted. Thank you.**

**Drums4life: Don't worry about that. If there is one thing that drives me nuts it's when an author doesn't finish their story.**

**Nanai: I find it to be a good thing when I can blindside my readers. I know it isn't good for your sanity but it does mean I'm good enough to do it haha.**

**clank2662: The whole cousin thing I actually decided on in that exact moment lol. I knew I was going to bring in a villain but up until then I didn't really know who or what he would do. Now that he's established I've got sooooooo many ideas.**

* * *

'I can't believe I failed him so soon. Ha I couldn't even protect myself let alone the one who killed me.' A pair of hands grabbed hold of Sasuke's arms and he was sure he was about to be pulled from what was left of his earthly body. The hands began to shake him gently at first but then more urgently when the ground trembled. Finally he felt a stinging in his cheek and heard a loud voice yell at him.

"Sasuke wake the fuck up!"

The slap had been enough but the voice finally made him force his eyes open. He was met by the view of purple rippled eyes and red hair while the white haired man retrieved his scythe.

"Wha- how did I survive?!" Sasuke looked at his beat up body but was amazed nonetheless by finding everything where it should be. He finally sat up and noticed his saviors were Nagato and Hidan. However their attention had long turned from him to the 8 tails violently smashing the ground and more specifically trying to smash someone on the ground. Sasuke's brain was still trying to processes that he was alive when the realization of what he seen hit him. 8 tails. One more meant 9. 9 tails meant the strongest of the nine bijuu was free once again at the cost of his friend's life. Naruto's life.

The Uchiha rolled onto his stomach and began to stand on still weak legs. Another impact from the tails shook the ground causing Sasuke to lose his balance and fall to one knee. His body was already beat up and he was about ready to give in to the darkness that blurred his vision when he heard himself speaking.

'I promise...'

The promise he made to Naruto and Sakura. How could he forget? Suddenly his legs found their strength again as his resolve solidified. He took several steps at a walk to see if his strength had actually returned before he began an all out sprint towards the rampaging beast with the intent to follow through on his promise.

'I won't fail now!'

* * *

Tenzou leaped out of the way of yet another tail trying to crush him. It was starting to get repetitive and Tenzou knew that if this pattern continued then the fox would win due to stamina with no competition. He needed to time it just right otherwise he would be crushed. The tail began its desent which began Tenzou's count down.

"5"

He leapt over another swipe from a claw.

"4"

Tenzou found himself rolling forward out of another tail's reach.

"3"

He began to bend his knees for what was to come, eyes still locked on the tail.

"2"

He began to jump backwards only to find himself on his back from tripping on a piece of a former house of all things. 'Shit!'

"1"

Time to improvise.

The tail collided with the ground and the fox let out a roar of victory upon seeing no movement. The tail lifted and no one was there. The beast never gave any thought to the person after it thought he was dead and instead turned its attention to the fight raging all around it. That was until it felt a sharp pain as two black chakra chains wrapped around its throat. The chains began to drain massive amounts of chakra from the beast and the fox found itself on its knees slowly losing strength. Suddenly the sight of two Sharingan eyes belonging to an Uchiha staring right into his eye caused him to go into a rampage but not before the Uchiha completed his task.

* * *

Naruto found himself approaching the massive cage against his will. Or was it? Did he want to open it? He was so confused as his sense of responsibility clashed with the all consuming rage that filled him. He just reached the cage when a hand on his shoulder twisted him around. Feelings of confusion and happiness filled him at the sight of his rescuer. He was happy that someone stopped him yet he was confused about how that someone got there.

"What do you think you're doing dobe?!" Sasuke pulled Naruto away from the cage just as a massive claw attempted to grab them both.

"Damn you Uchiha! You and your disgusting eyes will be the first thing I wipe out when I'm free!" The demon fox smashed against the cage in a pitiful attempt to reach them. The cage and its seal held strong through the blows it was taking.

"Sasuke? How did you get here?" Naruto asked as he was still recovering from the Kyuubi's influence on his mind.

"Don't you remember? My eyes see everything. Now let's go before it's too late." Sasuke pulled the blonde through the door and into the blinding light.

* * *

The 8 tailed fox was about to crush Sasuke with its foot when it disappeared only to be replaced by a winded blonde. Naruto fell to one knee as a wave of fatigue washed over his burnt body. The exhaustion was almost too much when he caught sight of Sakura. She had been saved from being annihilated by the shockwave by an extremely thick wooden dome. Naruto could only assume Yamato was in there because he knew Mikasu was still unable to produce that much wood using only her Mokuton chakra.

The sight of Sakura how she was made the blonde begin to run towards her. He almost reached the pink haired medic ninja when a fist connected with the side of his face. The blow knocked him off balance but his assailant wasn't done yet as another fist nearly broke his knee just as he was swept off of his feet by a leg which was followed up by a hammerfist to the stomach.

"Well you gave me quite a bit of trouble there now didn't you?" Naruto's blurry vision cleared just enough for him to make out the ripple pattern of the Rinnegan in the golden eyes looking down at him. His vision cleared the rest of the way revealing a tanned face covered by strange black markings. Naruto recognized those markings from Sasuke's Curse Mark. So not only did he have the Rinnegan but he also retained the Curse Mark even after Orochimaru was killed.

Tenzou brought his sword up to shove it through Naruto's head. The blonde fell back onto one of his most tried and true jutsus.

"Shinra Tensei!"

The golden eyes disappeared as the wave of gravity slammed into him and threw him away. Naruto pulled himself to his feet and seen the wooden dome move and catch the flying figure. Yamato was clearly fatigued but he moved fast. The wood fully encased Tenzou and Yamato slammed his hands onto the ground. A hole deeper than anyone could see down formed in the ground and Yamato dropped the wooden ball into the hole which closed itself when the makeshift casket hit the bottom.

"Got him." Yamato smiled an exhausted smile before collapsing onto the ground. Naruto realized they had to move quickly and he made several hundred Kage Bunshin to gather everyone up to head home. The real Naruto ran over to his precious pinkette and fell to his knees next to her.

"Sakura? Sakura please wake up!" The tears flowed down his cheeks as he gently lifted the girls limp body into his arms. "Sakura please don't leave...not now...don't leave our child without a mother. Please! Please don't leave me! I know this is selfish but damn it I've loved you my entire life! I'll be damned if I let you leave me now! Sakura please! Wake up!"

The magnificent emerald eyes that Naruto loved still didn't open. The pale body of the girl he always wanted didn't respond to the pleas of a desperate man. Death collected his prize without any regard of those that would be hurt by the passing of that person. However Death never collected from Naruto Uzumaki.

The blonde's eyes began to burn as a flurry of memories emerged in his mind. A field of death. The feelings of despair he felt now and then...life. The burning became searing and Naruto grabbed at his eyes as he screamed in pain. He begged for the feeling to go away and pried at his eyes in an attempt to banish the pain from his eyes. Then it was gone. As suddenly as the searing pain had appeared did it disappear. However it didn't take everything. Instead Naruto carefully placed Sakura's lifeless body on the ground and began to concentrate. His thoughts were that of restoring life, of preventing death, and of keeping life in this plane of existence.

His chakra was focused entirely on fulfilling his mind's desires and it began to react to those thoughts. Naruto felt blood begin to stream down from his nose. The feeling gained in intensity and his eyes began to bleed. A feeling of complete exhaustion began to spread through the blonde's body yet his concentration never wavered. Finally when his vision began to blur he shouted out an unfamiliar jutsu name.

"Rinne Tensei!"

The King of Hell emerged from the ground behind Naruto and opened its mouth allowing a stream of green to shoot out from its mouth. Many of the spirits vanished into the distance but many also remained and entered dead bodies. One entered Sakura's body and Naruto watched in utter amazement as the hole in her stomach vanished and her eyes began to open. As the golden sunlight hit the dazzling green of her eyes Naruto smiled and collapsed.

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AN: I finally found a place to use the Rinne Tensei! Honestly, I couldn't think of a better place either. I hope you liked the chapter and I hope I fixed the whole paragraph length that Duesal10 pointed out. Thanks again for the tip. Well as always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	21. Always Problems

**Review Responses:**

**MK loves NaruSaku: It's no problem. You read it and that's what matters. As for his cousin I'd like you to meet my new villain. I'm going to have fun writing him too.**

**Roxas: Thank you. I'm already doing the best I can with updates time wise.**

**clank2662: Actually when Nagato used it he only died because he was already very weak plus his chakra was nearly depleted. Naruto is in neither of those situations when he used it. So you can rest easy knowing our blonde hero won't die today.**

**Drums4life: Thank you Drums. I'm glad you liked it.**

**Bankai777: Eventually.**

* * *

-Time Skip-

Naruto sat upon the newly restored Hokage Monument and gazed out over the village. After Naruto's rampage the Sound shinobi had fled Konoha and the former residents were able to practically waltz right in. Due to the shockwave from his transformation Konoha was rebuilt inside of the crater said shockwave had formed. That day was 6 long months ago. During that time Tenzou was presumed dead and Konoha was rebuilt thanks to Yamato and Mikasu's efforts. Naruto was just starting to learn the sub elementals so he still had trouble using Mokuton among other things. He was just lucky that the Eternal Mangekyou Rinnegan was able to mix the chakra types into the sub types otherwise he would've killed himself along time ago from trying to force the chakra types to mix.

The blonde sighed as he thought about all of the troubles still plaguing the world. Madara was still alive somewhere out there and Jinchuuriki were beginning to disappear. So far Naruto had managed to resume his mission and finished collecting samples of each bijuu's chakra about 2 months ago. The thought of what he still had to do was mind numbingly stupid but he had to. There was no other way. Ever since Naruto used the Rinne Tensei he heard strange rumors coming from the Sound talking about how Orochimaru's experiments and projects were restarted by a new mad scientist. The rumors were treated like that: rumors. Naruto wanted to investigate given the history between Team 7 and that snake but Tsunade couldn't spare anyone due to the reconstruction of Konoha.

Now with Konoha rebuilt Naruto felt the urge to investigate subside. He was finally able to spend time with his family and was actually beginning to dread the day missions would be coming back to the normal amount. He didn't want this to end. He was able to be the father he never had and it felt good.

"Naruto." He turned his head and flashed a toothy grin at his now fiancee. He had proposed to her at that very spot on the Fourth Hokage's head several weeks ago. She held little Minato in her arms and the boy flashed a near toothless grin back at his dad. The boy had his father's legendary smile and had, of all things, a well developed and quite massive chakra network already. Tsunade predicted that the boy would surpass his father's chakra capacity (without his bijuu) by 16 years old. That would always bring a massive smile to the blonde's face. His son was only 8 months old and already had the potential to be a legend. However Minato had a strange ability with his eyes: they were able to change color. Normally they were an ocean blue but when he got very angry his eyes would take on fox like characteristics like the pupils became slits. What worried Naruto was that his eyes would also turn red like when Naruto would fall under the Kyuubi's influence. Many times though if the child was happy his eyes would remain as the glowing sapphire blue they naturally were.

"Hey you made it!" He embraced Sakura before kissing his son on the top of his head. The blonde haired infant giggled and gave them an amazing smile with a heart melting laugh. Even without teeth that smile was definitely a Naruto smile. He was happy that Sakura was able to escape from Ino with the child still with her. Ino had become like a second mother for the young blonde and definitely gave Tsunade a run for her money in the spoiling department. Between Ino and Tsunade Sakura and Naruto were suprised the boy didn't explode from candy and sweets. He had definitely become a chubby little baby that much was easy to see but his metabolism was high enough to keep the boy in a good weight range just by sleeping.

"Of course I made it! We've been planning this get together forever now. Ino, Shikamaru, Sai, Sasuke, Hinata, and the others will arrive soon. So lets get everything set up." Sakura set Minato down and together with Naruto they began to spread out the blanket for the long awaited picnic.

* * *

-Hiruzen Memorial Park, Center of Konoha-

The park was alive with activity like always. Children were running about playing shinobi while parents laughed with eachother and shared stories. Couples lounged about in the grass while a few people had picnics set up. An artist was painting the memorial statue for Hiruzen Sarutobi while several older children sat against the base of the statue and talked. Nagato sat in the shadows of a tree while awaiting word of Itachi's status. When Naruto used the Rinne Tensei he brought back many people without even meaning to. Itachi was one of those resurrected although he was still in really bad condition. Orochimaru had done an experiment on his body that was affecting his healing and recovery. He had been a patient in Konoha's hospital for the entire time after it was rebuilt.

Nagato could still feel a dark and ominous presence filling this seemingly peaceful area. It was as if the feelings leaked from the ground and air. However it was only in this part of Konoha. He remembered the "solution" to the Tenzou problem and still shook his head. Although there was no way he survived this long it was still better to confirm the death of an enemy that strong.

Deep underground two golden eyes opened and a smile formed in the darkness.

"Shoulda made sure I was dead."

* * *

The picnic had turned into a party which Kiba decided to move to his place so they could use his fire pit. Minato was fast asleep considering it was midnight but the group was still awake although they were now sitting in a circle around the fire. Naruto sat with his back against a tree and Sakura sat in his lap while holding little Minato. Naruto gently rocked her ever so slightly to help relax both her and his son. Sasuke had shown up later after returning from his brother's room in the hospital. Sasuke had gotten off on a reduced punishment due to his recent actions. Instead of imprisonment he was stripped of his shinobi rank for one year and confined to the village for 1 1/2 years.

"So Shikamaru you and Temari huh?" Kiba nudged the shadow user who just nodded. Naruto felt like he was being stabbed as guilt shot through him. Ever since Choji's death Shikamaru never really was the same again. Although him and Temari were finally officially dating much to Gaara's displeasure. He didn't have anything against Shikamaru. He did have something against anyone even remotely interested in his sister though.

"Yeah Temari, the troublesome woman she is, finally convinced me." Shikamaru sighed and fell to hi back so he could stare into the cloudless night sky.

Suddenly the park erupted in a ball of fire. Flaming chunks of earth rained down everywhere, ome large enough to crush houses, and fires began to erupt around the city.

"What the-"

Minato's cry cut Naruto off as he felt Sakura get pulled off of him. He turned his head and found his eyes staring straight into golden ripples.

Then it happened.

* * *

AN: Sorry for the short chapter but I decided to break this extra long chapter into two parts. Hopefully this was a good chapter. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	22. Rebirth Through Conflict

**Important Note at the bottom!**

**Review Responses:**

**MK loves NaruSaku: You must remember that Naruto, no matter how powerful, is still Naruto and the Naruto that we all know and loves helps his friends however possible.**

**McAwzome: About damn time you came back lol. As for your complaints well since I do know you I'll say it plainly: you are the only one not liking those so you know what that means right? Lol. But seriously it's nice to have you back.**

**clank2662: That would be kinda challenging considering Naruto's eyes are blue lol. Also it's not Naruto's kid that has the golden Rinnegan.**

**bankai777: Oh you have nooooo idea lol.**

**Duesal10: Thanks.**

**Naruto Obito Halliwell Uzumaki: Haha that's what I'm aiming for.**

* * *

Blue and gold were locked together and hatred from both sides began to make the air heavy. The killer intent that poured from them began to physically weigh down the surrounding people. People began to collapse as a fear of death made many civilians and even many shinobi tried to crawl away from what could easily be a source of death for all of them. Naruto seen Sakura holding a terrified and screaming Minato while slowly moving away from the dangerous man staring down the father of her child. Naruto stood up and prepared to attack.

"So it seems my cousin has become too relaxed during my little vacation. Well no matter I'll be sure to use that to my advantage." Tenzou smiled and grabbed the hilt at his side. What confused Naruto was when he drew the hilt to find it had no blade. Using Naruto's confused state Tenzou lifted his lift hand towards Naruto.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

Naruto reacted too late as he tried to stick to the ground with chakra. He was pulled towards Tenzou who began pumping chakra into his weapon. Slowly the chakra began to form a blade which Naruto realized was the same blade that impaled Sakura. He quickly countered by transforming his right hand into a chakra cannon.

"Asura Attack!"

The beam shot forward and Tenzou was forced to break the pull on Naruto to avoid the attack. Naruto rolled to his feet and fired several more shots before sprinting forward while drawing his own katana. He returned his hand to its normal before pulling his staff out. As he closed the diatance Tenzou flipped over Naruto and swung at his head trying to remove it. Naruto dropped to his knees and used his momentum to slide forward under the slice. He jumped back to his feet and brought his blade behind his back to block Tenzou's slash before kicking his foot backwards to create space. The blonde spun around and pointed the staff at Tenzou to send him airborne.

"How did he do that without speaking?" Sasuke asked Sakura while still looking for an opening to help.

"He's been practicing so much that he is now able to use the Bansho Ten'in and Shinra Tensei without speaking." Sakura answered.

Tenzou sat up suddenly and fired several shots from a chakra cannon at Naruto who simply absorbed the attacks when they reached him.

'This isn't going good. I didn't expect him to have both the sword and the staff of the Rikudo Sennin. I need to make an escape route for myself for when the time comes' Naruto still waited for Tenzou to do something but the gold eyed Uzumaki stalled for time.

"Not very chatty are you?" Naruto gave no form of response instead he remained completely still except for his eyes which were constantly following Tenzou. After a few moments of silence Tenzou shrugged his shoulders and charged. Just as he reached his target, Naruto parried his sword and spun around Tenzou while swiftly bring the staff down on Tenzou's back. He inhaled sharply from the stinging contact. He leapt into the air and spun around with the intent to deliver a viscous kick to Naruto's head only for his foot to be evaded. Naruto pressed his palm to Tenzou's chest causing him to go spiralling backwards. The brief moment was all Naruto needed to execute his plan.

"Kuchiyose: Gedo Mazo!"

Now Naruto had this all planned out. From the summoning to Tenzou's inevitable defeat. Well everyone knows how plans go...

As soon as the Statue was free several things happened. Naruto discovered the bijuu were fully regenerated. He also discovered that the statue decided HE was their new host.

Naruto found himself suspended in midair by 8 red masses of chakra. Before he could react the chakra all swirled together before slamming into the seal on his stomach. The pain was substantial as the mass forced itself into the seal. When the last trace disappeared into the seal Naruto collapsed on the ground while fighting with the new massive amounts of energy that felt as though he was being torn apart.

Tenzou stared at his cousin in shock after witnessing and understanding what just happened thanks to his Rinnegan. He quickly got up and aimed a chakra cannon at his head knowing if he didn't kill Naruto now the Rikudo Sennin would truly be reborn. Just before he fired a shockwave flew out from Naruto's seal. His shirt was shredded and everyone watched as the design from his robe began to form on his back. The process was slow but as one tomoe formed on his seal another would form on his back. After all 9 were present the seal on his stomach shifted into the shape of a ripple pattern with 3 tomoe on each level. The design on his back also had a ripple pattern form above it. After several minutes Naruto's screams of pain died out instantly.

Tenzou seen Naruto had fallen unconscious and was about to take the shot that would blow his head clean off when Kakashi, Gai, and Yamato all appeared around him. At the same time Sakura and Sasuke had moved to Naruto's side in order to defend him. Ino had taken Minato to safety and Tenzou, realizing he was outmatched for now, disappeared by sinking into the ground.

"Naruto! Naruto wake up!" Sakura gently touched his shoulder when he suddenly went into a fit of seizures. Sakura and Sasuke did their best to keep him from hurting himself until the fits had passed. Once they were done the two quickly and gently lifted him and swiftly made their way to the hospital.

* * *

Naruto found himself in what was normally the Fox's room but he was confronted by not only an uncaged Nine Tails but 8 other bijuu.

"What's going on here?!" Naruto found himself slightly intimidated by the sight before him but stood his ground. The Kyuubi grinned and answered.

"Naruto Uzumaki you are to fight all of us and beat us in order to begin the rebirth of the Jyuubi. We will not be fully merged. Instead for each one you beat the loser will give up a portion of their chakra for the revival. Also one more thing" The Kyuubi gave Naruto a malice filled grin, "you will not awaken until you have beaten all nine bijuu."

With that The Kyuubi attempted to smash Naruto with his paw.

"I'll start."

* * *

Tenzou stared into the one visible eye of Madara Uchiha while he waited for the masked man to consider his offer. In the shadows to Madara's right a figure stood with a large hood drawn over their head to hide their features.

"So you wish to help me achieve my plan. What's in it for you?" Madara stared at him intently while waiting for an answer.

"I only wish to be the one to remove the head of Naruto Uzumaki from his shoulders." Tenzou felt slightly unnerved by the chuckle from the hooded man but said man didn't say or do anything else. Madara's voice refocused his attention.

"You have a deal."

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AN: Hello everybody. I got the inspiration for my surprise twist after reading the fic Wilderness and realizing I had damn near set up the same scenario completely on accident lol. So I wanted to give a quick thanks to that fic for my newfound inspiration. Hopefully you guys enjoy this chapter. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


	23. Rebirth Through Conflict (Continued)

**This is a continuation of last chapter. No responses will be posted for the previous half. All reviews will be responded to next chapter.**

* * *

-Timeskip: 7 days-

Sakura sat beside Naruto's hospital bed for the 4th straight day. The staff had long since given up on trying to convince the distraught kunoichi into into leaving. Minato was staying with Ino considering Sakura's mental stability was currently shakey at best. Occasionally Naruto would cry out in pain as another tomoe on his seal became red. There were only 2 black tomoe left but everyone was still confused about what was happening. The design on his back only had 2 red tomoe while the rest had turned green. Now Sakura sat staring blankly at him when he suddenly convulsed in pain and the other 2 tomoe became red. The ripple pattern began to spin, each ripple going a different direction, and began to pulse with an ominous black light. The marks on his neck faded to black and began to pulse the same black light. Naruto began to have violent seizures and was screaming so loudly that her ears began to hurt. He was in more pain than Sakura had ever seen him in and she couldn't do anything.

"Oh god Naruto please wake up! Please please please wake up!" Her tears flowed down in streams as she hugged him close. A tear landed in each of his eyes and they suddenly shot open. Sakura was horrified as she found herself staring into one blue eye that she was used to and one black eye with red ripples. Then she knew. Everything that had happened was projected into her mind before the two eyes closed again but she now knew what was happening.

She needed to warn the staff.

* * *

It was two days ago that the hospital evacuated. Once the last person was out the building did the impossible: it vanished. Only Naruto was left inside. Now out of the blue the entire hospital reappeared looking like it had been in a warzone. Its sudden reappearance shocked many people. It didn't take long for a crowd to form either. Everyone was anxious to see what would emerge from the destroyed building. The building was dark and nothing could be seen moving inside through the shattered glass. Everything was silent. Not even the birds were chirping. It was as though the world held its breath in anticipation for anyone to emerge from the devastated building.

"Look!"

The shout made everyone turn their gaze to the hospital and a figure could be seen slowly making its way out of the building. The figure collapsed to one knee and was forced to extend an arm to catch itself. After several moments it pulled itself up and began to stumble towards the door. As the figure neared the entrance Sakura seen the green glow from every pattern etched onto the figures body.

"Oh my god!" Sakura started forward even before the person cleared the structure. Sasuke tried to stop her but missed her arm. Cursing under his breath the Uchiha followed to ensure her safety. The front door fell open and Naruto fell forward face first into the ground.

Sakura dropped to her knees beside Naruto and rolled him onto her lap. She was shocked to find him smiling. His face was pale but already the color was beginning to return to his face. It was like she could physically see his energy returning right before her eyes.

"I did it Sakura. I finally did it." Naruto sat up and captured the stunned Sakura's lips with his own before standing up. He was about to offer his hand to her when he noticed a red glowing line extend down each arm and ending in a circle on the back of his hand. Before he could question what it was for the lines turned black and peeled off of his skin to form a liquid substance that hovered above the center of the back of his hands. Before he could question what it was the liquid suddenly began to move through his hand. What shocked Naruto more was the new hole in each of his hands that closed when the liquid wasnt being used. The liquid returned to his arms where they melded with the skin to once again form the lines.

"Well that was interesting."

He was about to talk once again when he spun around but became extremely dizzy.

"Hey Sakura."

"Yeah Naruto?"

"I need to go home."

With that he collapsed in a heap on the ground, snoring with a smile on his face.

"Silly baka." Sakura said with a smile as both her and Sasuke lifted their burden between the two of them and set off at a slow pace back to Naruto and Sakura's house.

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AN: This is the second half of the previous chapter that my derp brain oh so kindly made me forget to type up. After this chapter I'm going to try to slow things down and develope more storyline. I'm usually not good at slow paced typing but bear with me as I try to stumble my way through this self created challenge. Feel free to correct me if I mess up here and there on details or things like that. As always please Read, Review, and Enjoy!


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